A comprehensive overview of the contribution of Catholic social thought to business ethicsCan a religion founded on loving one’s neighbor give moral approval to profit-seeking business firms in a global economy? What should characterize the relationship between faith and economic life? What can businesses, employees, and executives do to contribute to the common good and to make their practices and society more ethical?Business Ethics and Catholic Socia...

From the author of Voltaire's Bastards comes a philosophical examination of how corporatism has become so deeply ingrained into our society, how it's destroying democracy, and how we can fight against it.In this intellectual tour de force John Ralston Saul argues that our society is only superficially based on the individual and democracy, and the West now toils unconsciously in the grip of a stifling “corporatist” structure that serves the needs of busine...

The global financial crisis has drawn attention to the importance of understanding historical ideas and learning lessons from the past. However, it can sometimes be difficult to trace the connections between old ideas and modern day issues. This textbook traces the evolution of economic ideas from the ancient to the modern world by examining the contributions of the most important scholars to some of the most important ideas in economics.The History of Economic Ideas surve...

What is the purpose of our economic system? What would a more life-serving economy look like? There are many books about business and society, yet very few of them question the primacy of GDP growth, profit maximization and individual utility maximization. Even developments with a humanistic touch like stakeholder participation, corporate social responsibility or corporate philanthropy serve the same goal: to foster long-term growth and profitability. Humanism in Business questions these a...

Inequality is skyrocketing. In this world of vast riches, millions of people live in extreme poverty, barely surviving from day to day. All over the world, the wealthy's increasing political power is biasing policy away from the public interest and toward the financial interests of the rich. At the same time, many countries are facing financial fragility and diminished well-being. On top of it all, the global economy, driven by fossil fuels, has proven to be a collective act of self-sabota...

Essays on the ethics of business and management.

One of the major political challenges of the modern era has been to manage the integration of business into the life of the civil community. Similarly, Christian social thinkers have struggled to integrate business activity into their account of morality, justice, and the common good. While the disciplines of economics and law teach us much about the character of contemporary business, their descriptions are limited. Drawing on the natural-law tradition's concept of goods, this monograph o...

Why is it that multinational drug companies hide or falsify unfavorable results? Why do automakers knowingly sell us unsafe cars? Why is big business allowed to poison our environment-and us? Why is our food so unhealthy, with obesity growing at such an alarming rate? Why are we working such long hours and enjoying life less? This timely and important book places the blame for much of what ails contemporary society squarely on one institution: the modern publicly traded corporation, which ...

The primary aim of the text is to introduce the reader to the relationship between economics and ethics and to the application of economic ethics in the evaluation of the market. The reader will gain insight into:The ethical and methodological strategy of economics and criticism of the core assumptions that underpin the economic defence of free market operation.The characteristics of different ethical theories (utilitarianism, duty and rights ethics, justice and vir...

Is business ethics a contradiction in terms? Absolutely not, says Robert Solomon. In fact, he maintains that sound ethics is a necessary precondition of any long-term business enterprise, and that excellence in business must exist on the foundation of values that most of us hold dear. Drawing on twenty years of experience consulting with major corporations on ethics, Solomon clarifies the difficult ethical choices all people in business face. He uses an "Aristotelian" approach to remind re...

Our quest for prosperity has produced great output but not always great outcomes. The growing list of concerns includes climate and natural capital, abuse of wealth and market power, economic insecurity, gender bias and disparity, competitive and immoderate consumption, and unhealthful lifestyles. Fundamentally, when it comes to well-being, fairness, and the scope of our humanity, the modern economic system still leaves much to be desired. In turn, trust in business and the liberal market ...

David Ellerman relates a deep theoretical groundwork for a philosophy of development, while offering a descriptive, practical suggestion of how goals of development can be better set and met. Beginning with the assertion that development assistance agencies are inherently structured to provide help that is ultimately unhelpful by overriding or undercutting the capacity of people to help themselves, David Ellerman argues that the best strategy for development is a drastic reduction in devel...