Ethical lessons of the financial crisis

Abstract

In the aftermath of the economic crisis of 2008 it is important to ask what ethics has to say to the many stakeholders in the U.S. economy. The crisis in the financial industry, precipitated by the bursting of a bubble in the housing sector, brought the U.S. economy to the brink of a major depression. Government officials, economists and financial executives intervened to implement measures to mitigate the damage, applying their expertise and using their best judgments to rescue the economy. The actions they took required technical competence, pragmatic judgments and controversial decisions.