Yesterday my friend Jenna and I plugged in our headphone splitter and watched Inside Job while we enjoyed our first trip on the Shanghai – Beijing fast train. Inside Job is directed by Charles Ferguson and delves into the depths of the makings of the 2008 financial crisis.
I loved every minute of it (especially watching certain big wigs squirm and stutter through interviews) and found it informative but also really depressing/frustrating.
It highlighted again how embedded corruption is in our economy and governments. A topic I have spoken about a bit lately. Even more so, it highlighted how woeful business ethics is amongst the worlds leading politicians, academics and economists.
Business ethics is at the heart of good corporate social responsibility. So what does Inside Job tell us about the state of CSR in the international financial sector? Is it just a few bag eggs that caused this mess? Is it a culture of risk taking and greed? I’m not sure, but I can feel disillusion creeping into my nightmares.
Engaging, teaching and promoting the practice of business ethics in companies is one of the best ways to internalise and integrate CSR into the core of business practice, and is something that obviously should be happening more.
Here are my two favourite quotes from the movie, I won’t say anymore cause I want you to watch it.
Andrew Sheng an advisor for the China Banking Regulatory Commission:
“Why should a financial engineer be paid four times to 100 times more than a real engineer? A real engineer build bridges. A financial engineer build dreams. And, you know, when those dreams turn out to be nightmares, other people pay for it”
Charles Morris talking about a friend who was a bond trader:
“By 1986 he was making millions of dollars and he thought it was because he was smart”
image source
Recent Comments