Doing Ethics

In an op-ed piece published in The Washington Post on March 2nd, E. J. Dionne Jr. argues that Obama is right to try to correct the growing economic inequality in the US. Dionne quotes Peter Orszag, Obama's budget director, who points out that: "Over the past two or three decades, the top 1 percent of Americans have experienced a dramatic increase from 10 percent to more than 20 percent in the share of national income that's accruing to them."

"The ethical measure of an economic policy," I argue in Doing Environmental Ethics, "is its contribution to the common good. This not only requires political decisions that protect the environment, but also economic policies that ensure a fair distribution of the economic benefits that are realized."

Obama's budget calls us to work for greater economic justice in the US.

With hope...Bob

Labels: economics

In my first blog on hard choices I noted President Obama's assertion that the economic crisis wasn't simply the result of "greed and irresponsibility on the part of some," but a consequence of "our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age."

Hans Morsbach, my brother-in-law and a successful businessman, responded with this comment: "Greed is a big part of the problem. The system allowed financial expert to collect commission on services of no value. Experts bundled mortgages of which they should have known that they were of less value than their label suggested. They did not care and just collected the service fee. When the bubble burst, they had their money and the taxpayers had to bail them out."

"Much of the blame rests with the SEC and Bush's failure to regulate. He preferred to think that no regulation was necessary as the free market would do it. He was wrong. Financial executives made millions (which are not recoverable) and the taxpayers pay the unearned income of the financial experts and also the shortfall of the value of mortgages mislabeled. The 'system' worked as the investment houses made money all along. It is like the Ponzi scheme which works smoothly until the market forces expose the problem."

I agree with Hans. Our economic system will not be responsible and just without effective regulation by the federal government. Ethics requires enforceable rules as well as encouragement and recognition of good conduct.

With hope...Bob

Labels: economics

In his inaugural address President Obama told us that the economic crisis wasn't simply the result of "greed and irresponsibility on the part of some," but a consequence of "our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age."

He was talking about ethical choices. Doing what is right and being good persons even when it seems that we might profit by doing what is wrong, or when we want good government but are unwilling to pay the taxes necessary for government that works.

But accepting that we are part of the problem should give us hope, for it means that we are part of the solution. What we do, and who we are, matters.

For those who have visited this blog, I hope you will take a few moments and share your ideas about what we should do. For my take on how we might respond to climate change and our economic crisis, I invite you to look at Doing Environmental Ethics.

With hope...Bob

Labels: economics