Last night, we brought our “Buddhist-Christian Dialogue on Global Greed” here in Chiang Mai to an end with the formulation of a “Common Word” on the economic mess the world is in and what we might do about it. That’s quite an achievement. Finding a common word about the economy between Buddhists and Christians who [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Economy’
A Buddhist-Christian Take on the Financial Crisis II
“If you want to find the causes of the financial crisis that we are in, and if you want to come up with solutions for it, you’re going to have to deal with GREED.” That was the opening Buddhist contribution to our conference here in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Buddhist-Christian dialogue about the global economic [...]
A Buddhist-Christian Take on the Financial Crisis
I’m here in Chiang-Mai, Thailand, at Payap University for a rather extraordinary – some would say strange – gathering. We are a group of some 30 Buddhist and Christian scholars, leaders, and activists from around the world (mostly Asian; I’m one of two Americans). We’ve come together to talk about the financial tsunami that moved [...]
Investing Justly?
A recent NY Times article on the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility raises some interesting questions to face as people of faith. Shouldn’t our religious consciences extend to our investment portfolios? ICCR executive director Laura Berry believes so and also expresses a belief in the benevolence of the market: “I actually believe that God, whatever [...]
It’s the system, stupid!
From today’s New York Times, in a lead article on poverty in the US: “American business is about maximizing shareholder value,” said Allen Sinai, chief global economist at the research firm Decision Economics. “You basically don’t want workers. You hire less, and you try to find capital equipment to replace them.” When I think on [...]