the COVID-19 crisis | Moral Markets?

What Good Business Looks Like

by Harvard Business Review | 13 May 2020 | business ethics & CSR

“Fifty years ago Milton Friedman famously wrote that ‘the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.’ The doctrine of shareholder supremacy was born and, notwithstanding a growing movement towards a more conscious capitalism, continues to reign. Suddenly, even that axiom feels less self-evidently true than did it a few months ago. We are seeing a rising number of companies showing up in this crisis with humanity. They are stretching themselves to support stakeholders other than their investors: employees, customers, suppliers, and wider society.”, so Paul Polman, Raj Sisodia and Kip Tindell argue.

Green Today, Gone Tomorrow?

by Project Syndicate ("The World's Opinion Page") | 13 May 2020 | climate change & sustainability, Opinion & Ideas

“The COVID-19 crisis represents an unexpected opportunity to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable and resilient economy. But as societies start to emerge from the pandemic, will the temptation to return to business as usual prove too great?”

Making the Best of a Post-Pandemic World

by Project Syndicate ("The World's Opinion Page") | 12 May 2020 | climate change & sustainability, economic growth & GDP, globalisation / free trade, inequality & justice, Opinion & Ideas

“All three – greater government action, retreat from hyper-globalism, and lower growth rates – predate the pandemic. And while they could be viewed as posing significant dangers to human prosperity, it is also possible that they are harbingers of a more sustainable, more inclusive global economy.”, says economist Dani Rodrik.

The New Empty Argument Against Trade

by Project Syndicate ("The World's Opinion Page") | 12 May 2020 | globalisation / free trade, Opinion & Ideas

“To those already predisposed to favor domestic production over international trade, the COVID-19 pandemic seems like a case in point. Yet a closer look at the facts shows that, if anything, the current crisis offers powerful evidence of why we need global supply chains and widely distributed production”

Navigating Deglobalization

by Project Syndicate ("The World's Opinion Page") | 11 May 2020 | climate change & sustainability, globalisation / free trade, Opinion & Ideas

“Appeals to recommit to globalization are highly unlikely to gain traction in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those keen to preserve globalization would instead be better advised to focus on minimizing the disruption caused by the coming period of deglobalization and laying the groundwork for a more sustainable process thereafter.”

Why It Doesn’t Make Economic Sense to Ignore Climate Change in Our Recovery from the Pandemic

by The Conversation ("Academic Rigour, Journalistic Flair") | 7 May 2020 | climate change & sustainability

“the pandemic is not a reason to weaken the commitments to net zero emissions. In fact, climate action is a vital protection against further global shocks, especially as governments plan their post-pandemic stimulus packages.”

Could Price Gouging during a Crisis Actually Be Moral?

by Big Think ("Smarter Faster") | 6 May 2020 | business ethics & CSR, Opinion & Ideas

“Paper products, hand sanitizer, masks, and cleaning wipes—all are in high demand and short supply during the COVID-19 crisis. Price gougers are viewed as villains in this crisis—but two scholars argue that price gouging is, in most cases, morally permissible. Increased prices prevent unnecessary hoarding. Buyers purchase only what they need when they need it. Also, producers are incentivized to make more. When the supply rises, prices will fall.”

Think Big Pharma Won’t Profiteer in the Race to Treat Coronavirus? Think Again

by Institute for New Economic Thinking (association of heterodox economists) | 6 May 2020 | business ethics & CSR, health care, Interviews

“Rosie Collington […] has studied how major insulin manufacturing companies jack up prices in order to line the pockets of shareholders, leaving many diabetics at risk of kidney failure, blindness, and even death if they can’t afford to pony up. Amid the Covid-19 crisis, some are hoping pharmaceutical companies can stop prioritizing profits over human life and redeem themselves following decades of abuses ranging from price gouging to tax dodging. […] In the following interview, Collington explores what’s at stake”

Capitalists vs Covid – The Freer the Country, the Safer You Are from the Virus

by CapX ("for popular capitalism") | 5 May 2020 | health care

“Does the corona crisis expose the failings of capitalism? A look at the data make a nonsense of the idea that capitalism is somehow to blame for this pandemic. Strong capitalist freedoms are the bedrock of the countries responding best to Covid-19.”

COVID-19 and the End of Individualism

by Project Syndicate ("The World's Opinion Page") | 4 May 2020 | economics as a science, Opinion & Ideas

“The sudden stop to economic activity underscores a truth about the modern, interconnected economy: what affects some parts substantially affects the whole. This web of linkages is therefore a vulnerability when disrupted. But it is also a strength, because it shows once again how the division of labor makes everyone better off, exactly as Adam Smith pointed out over two centuries ago”, economist Diane Coyle argues.

Moral Markets?

For an Economy of Human Flourishing

Moral Markets?

For an Economy of Human Flourishing

Your portal to critical reflections on free markets, capitalism, business & economics

Articles & blogs on the COVID-19 crisis

Tag: the COVID-19 crisis