Ethics in a time of crisis: Editorial introduction to special focus

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2012

Abstract

The financial crisis that has swept the globe since 2008 still rumbles on. Not only has it precipitated a sovereign debt crisis in Europe, and threatened growth rates and political stability in India and China, but also the liquidity of many banks is still a matter of debate. Despite the refuge that capital has taken in assets other than finance, worries remain that the basic financial machine may again freeze up in a renewed bout of crisis. The alternative to ever-increasing waves of crisis hardly looks more appealing, however. Ordinary people from Britain to Greece, Spain to California, face years of austerity, starved social programs, and precarious employment. These sacrifices occur against multiple smoldering resentments. In Greece, for example, what can only be described as a simmering hatred for Germany infects daily conversation; in the United States, bitterness at the immunity of what have been dubbed ‘the 1%’ is on the rise. In the background, the claimed technical certainties that counterbalance all the talk of irrational exuberance and the dangers of animal spirits have experienced their own epistemological crisis. How many experts declared the end of boom and bust? How many put faith in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and social enterprise rather than governmental regulation?

Discipline

Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics

Research Areas

Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources

Publication

Journal of Business Ethics

Volume

22

Issue

1

First Page

64

Last Page

67

ISSN

1467-8608

Identifier

10.1111/beer.12008

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