[Dialogue] Fw: Morality and the Economic Crisis

[RICHARD HOWIE]

Thanks Janice.
Ellen
On Oct 8, 2008, at 2:42 PM, Janice Ulangca wrote:

>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: George W Ensinger
> Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008 12:01 PM
> Subject: Fw: Morality and the Economic Crisis
>
> I have heard that Adam Smith presumed an ethical foundation in his  
> writing. The following is worth considering.
> GE
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: inward/outward
> To: George Ensinger
> Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008 5:01 AM
> Subject: Morality and the Economic Crisis
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Morality and the Economic Crisis
>
> N. Gordon Cosby
>
>
>
> I have a friend who is an attorney with a deep knowledge of the  
> national economic crisis. He made two interesting comments:
>
> He first said that "liquidity" is not the real problem in the  
> market right now---it is that no one knows what anything is worth.  
> So much stuff of questionable value is hidden on balance sheets  
> that buyers no longer know if something is worth what it is trading  
> for, less, or more. So no one really knows how bad things are and  
> cannot put an efficient, valid price on things. In other words,  
> blindness about value. That destroys the logic of the "free market"  
> because efficiency is based on "transparency" of value.
>
> Second, he said that as a result of the first problem of blindness  
> about value, it is difficult to know if persons you are selling to  
> can meet their commitments to you. In other words---blindness about  
> the solvency of parties in the market. That also kills an  
> "efficient" market because it destroys the needed trust that makes  
> the market work.
>
> In spiritual traditions of all kinds, blindness is an old theme---- 
> people who corruptly set out to blind others end up blind  
> themselves. We ignore that wisdom at our peril. Morality, once  
> again, is proven to be fundamental to an efficient marketplace.
>
> Source: Conversation with a friend, September 28, 2008
>
> Add your thoughts at inward/outward
>
>
>
>
>
>
> This message is a daily service of inward/outward.
> To unsubscribe drkrmdr7 at msn.com click here (this cannot be undone!)
>
> Was this message forwarded to you? Click here to sign up.
>
> Point very well taken.  Thanks, George.  I've been thinking of  
> those fierce Hebrew prophets who thundered that there's gonna be  
> big trouble if you keep oppressing the poor, and ignore justice and  
> righteousness.  As in downright cheating the vulnerable with tricky  
> mortgages  and manipulating the corporate books in the name  
> of       profit.
>
> George, how about sharing this with an ICA list serve?
> Janice Ulangca
>
> Janice,
> Nice hearing from you. Inward/Outward often has good stuff. You can  
> join, if you like, using the link at the bottom. You may share this  
> quote with the list serve. I'm not on it.
> All the Best!
> George
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Dialogue mailing list
> Dialogue at wedgeblade.net
> http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/dialogue_wedgeblade.net

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20081010/7f7cd3a4/attachment-0001.html>