No sustainable economy without ethical values, says theologian

(HONG KONG) In the aftermath of the global financial meltdown, one theologian says there can be no sustainable economy without ethical values.

Similar to the two major world financial crises of 1997 and 2001, General Secretary of the Tubingen-based Global Ethic Foundation Dr Stephan Schlensog said that the current global financial crisis stemmed from a crisis of trust and ethics.

“Global ethic for a global economy, the global market demands a global ethic,” he said during a public seminar “Global Ethic and Global Economics” at the Hong Kong Institute of Education earlier in the month.

Dr Schlensog said that bankers, business people and consumers all had their roles to play in building up an ethical business environment.

While politicians are now debating whether and to what extent the global financial system needs a new legal framework, Schlensog said it was not even a question that the global financial system needed an ethical basis.

He said that different religions and cultures had developed their own set of ethic, but that it was time for religions to cooperate and to develop a set of common values to tackle social problems.

“The world has common values, but they need to be carefully defended and strengthened,” he said.

Schlensog also spelled out the need for education to promote global ethics, pointing to the Global Ethic Foundation’s collaboration with the Hong Kong Institute of Education in launching a global ethic workshop for use in schools.

The Global Ethic Foundation recently launched a manifesto, “Global Economic Ethic: Consequences for Global Businesses”, which seeks to underpin the principles of a free market and competition with a solid ethical basis supporting the common good.