It is difficult to imagine that anyone enters political life with the aspiration to be in the driver's seat when budget cuts are the name of the game. They have accepted leadership at a time when their respective legislative bodies have adopted austerity plans that will create friction between citizens and their government.
Those who are called to leadership when times are tough will, I am sure, be searching for allies and ideas from all sectors. They face a disgruntled, angry and dispirited public that has lost faith in its political and financial leaders and in the systems they have created. Cutting public sector jobs, eliminating programs or postponing projects are very unpopular measures that most officials are loathe to propose for fear of election-day reprisals.
As the U.S. congressional super-committee approaches its deadline for cutting some $1.2 trillion from the $14 plus trillion U.S. government debt and new governments in Italy and Greece are installed, the debate about fundamental fiscal, financial and economic issues is on center stage. Many are asking very fundamental questions about the purpose of the financial system, the routine services that it needs to provide and what, if any, responsibility it has to re-energize economies.
At the macroeconomic level, economists and academics can assemble the varied perspectives and data to provide evidence for the many different viewpoints that exist on these issues. Political and government leaders, on the other hand, are expected to turn the implications of specific agreements and commitments into laws and regulations. The absence of fiscal responsibility lies at the center of each crisis. In each country the solutions adopted will have different characteristics, but they will all have significant implications for both communities and financial markets.
The voices of other leaders have also been weighing in on the challenges that individual countries and the global financial system are facing. More wisdom and creativity will be needed if the integration and interdependence that exists is to have a solid foundation and be appropriately organized and governed. The message from the Occupy movement calling for greater economic justice and reforms that will meet the needs of the 99 percent has gained significant support and must be included in the debate.
Two faith traditions weighed in recently on the search for a solution to the lingering consequences of the 2008 financial meltdown, the anemic economic growth that continues to exist and the efforts to re-establish a firm foundation for future economic activity. In a recent op-ed that was published in the Financial Times, Archbishop Rowan Williams expressed his support for three of the recommendations that were included in an October document released by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
The social purpose that the financial system must serve, they agreed, is a public good that should be protected and grounded in a stable and secure global financial system. This principle should be the foundation upon which all financial institutions are built, and it should directly inform the scope of the services they provide to the public.
They are also in agreement about the need to separate "routine banking business" from investment banking and the more speculative side of the business where depositors' capital can be used, without their knowledge, in more risky ventures. They recommend that governments recapitalize banks, and, in return, that the banks use that capital "to help reinvigorate the real economy."
It is appropriate also to ask about the contribution of other leaders in this challenging environment, especially that of the corporate sector and their numerous proxies in the public square, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The private sector needs to be heard in the debate about such fundamental issues as tax reform and the appropriate responsible contribution that they such be making for the public services and amenities that they rely on every day. This should include such thorny issues as transfer pricing, tax havens and on a proposal, upon which the Vatican and the archbishop express agreement, "financial transaction taxes."
Corporations in the financial services sector that expressed remorse for the financial meltdown that happened on their watch are few and far between. True leaders need to find their voice and propose the best tools to provide access to credit and routine banking services for all. The challenge of reinvigorating the real economy will be much more difficult, but in a time of painful austerity their collaboration is essential.
When economists are called to political leadership, as has happened in Greece and Italy, when religious leaders are drawn into the debate about financial services and economic growth and when civil society is clamoring for economic justice, times are, without question, tough. This is an opportune time for true corporate leadership to find their voice in the conversation, re-evaluate their role in the economy and promote the social responsibility of the corporations that they lead.
Follow Rev. Seamus P. Finn, OMI on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Seamus Finn @Sa
Corporate social responsibility - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Occupy Wall Street | NYC Protest for World Revolution
If this is true, things must not be as bad as I thought.
Sometimes dangerous demagogues emerge...
To understand Politicians motives for running for office, one only has to look at a case in point.
Sarah Palin.
Salary as Governor of Alaska? .....................$125,000 a year.
Personal wealth acquisition since she "quit" her job? over $12,000,000. She now makes $100,000 a day on the "speaking circuit".
It ain't a "call of duty", and it ain't "public service".
It's simple, personal, greed.
Douglas Adams got it right in "The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy".
"“The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.
To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.
To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
Anybody know where we might go to snag a few of them thar types of people? They sure aren't out there running for public office - not that I blame them for wanting to avoid trying to help manage the current Fiasco.
"Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results."
- Gen. George S. Patton
I submit that a World Leader is needed, not a politician, not a corporation, and not a financial institution. A person. One person. That One has the courage to defend what is right, not what is popular or comfortable. One who has the courage to destroy as well as to create.
That World Leader speaks the Truth, acts the Truth, and, quite honestly, is the Truth.
Peace on Earth,
Ik
Be careful what you wish for.