Crisis in governance : Business Ethics and the Race for Profit

The business world has suffered from manic-depressive illness for at least a quarter of a century. Economic contractions follow speculative manias, but as soon as we are in an economic contraction, corporations and markets try to identify the next investment wave, - the next mania that will drive up stock prices, profit and compensation. The 2007-2009 global crisis, followed by today s deep instability in the markets and within corporations, has exposed the contradiction between the ethical stance of the corporate world and the considerable damage caused by excessive risk-taking in the race for profit. This crisis was by no means unique in financial history. New profit opportunities always fuel bubbles and crises, because profit-making takes precedence over risk management...