Financial scandals these days are like buses: another one comes along every minute. The ripples from Libor have not yet settled, but now the Serious Fraud Office has launched a criminal investigation into allegations about rigging of the £3 trillion-a-day foreign exchange markets by traders at City banks. For all those critics denouncing the evils […]
Among all major religions, Islam is the only one founded by a trader. According to the holy Quran (dictated by God himself to this prophet), profit is good as long the wealthy merchant redistributes a modest part of his acquired wealth to the poor. No idealization of poverty can be found in Islam, which makes […]
Whatever view one takes of faith, “Original sin” is the best two-word summary of the human condition. It is echoed in Kant’s slightly longer version, “Out of the crooked timber of humanity, nothing straight is ever made.” It follows that any political or economic venture which presupposes human perfectibility is doomed to failure. By contrast, […]
Innovation is the fundamental factor which increases living standards. From curing diseases to speeding up our daily commute to improving crop yields, innovation makes us healthier, wealthier and happier. Innovation is thus one of the key ingredients of productivity growth which in turn is the key ingredient for economic growth and acceleration of real wages. […]
Since capitalism has become the world-wide economic model, billions of men and women have left mass poverty behind and lead lives unimaginable to their forebears. Under the influence of the likes of Adam Smith in the UK or Jean-Baptiste Say in France, capitalism had been known as the way towards the wealth of nations. Yet […]
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