Economics and Morality

It seems everybody these days has an opinion on how the economy should be fixed. One thing that I haven't heard anybody really discuss is one underlying cause of the mess in which we now find ourselves. It isn't a Republican or Democrat issue, it isn't a capitalist or socialist trait either.

It's been said that when the founding fathers created the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, they made the assumption that the people of this country were basically moral people; that there were certain basic values of human decency that would prevail in most people's behavior, most of the time.

I'm talking about ideals like Trust, Honesty, Honor, and giving some consideration to the other guy.

If Bernie Madoff had thought for a moment before the first time he ever swindled money out of an investor who trusted him, if Madoff had just said to himself, "I can't steal these people's investments. They trust me to look after their money. They are going to need that money for their retirement." How different might things be? Perhaps that ninety-year old Madoff investor (featured on TV recently) would not have been forced to go back to work bagging groceries so that he can afford to eat.

In 1994, Illinois Congressman Dan Rostenkowski was indicted and imprisoned on charges of trading in officially purchased stamps for cash at the House of Representatives post office and keeping non-existent employees on his payroll. Imagine the how different the situation might have been if the congressman had said to himself, "the people who elected me expect me to behave with honesty, honor, and dignity, and that is what I shall do." But instead, brought shame and mis-trust to the office of congressman.

I could go on, but I'm sure you get the point. Whatever financial hocus pocus our governments--both state and federal--try to conjure up to get the economy back on track, none of it is going to work unless the people in charge at all levels are honorable people who put the good of their country before their own self-interest.

The Founding Fathers understood that. Our politicians, public servants, financiers, and everyone who makes decisions that affect the lives of others need to understand it too.