I’m on a roll with wanting to understand economics differently. I must admit, I gave up counting in third grade, never liked numbers, and preferred the messy world of emotions to the precision of math.

 
However, as I research the impact of money on our lives for my new e-book (soon to be ready “Ka-Ch’ing! How Family Patterns Play with Your Money Mind), I am becoming more and more fascinated with those who have new ideas about how to distribute and divide our global wealth.

 

I recently happened upon a Cambridge University economist (the U.K. is certainly in my consciousness these days) who has some exciting ideas about what we are doing and what to do about it. Her name is Noreena Hertz and she is a bright light in a complex and often unwieldy academic science.

 

It may be that her message, one that has been whispered about in organizations, rarely said loudly and boldly, is that markets need to serve the interests of people as much as they serve companies and shareholders. Check out her book “The Silent Takeover” (2001) about how unsustainable laissez-faire capitalism is and the idea that markets are stable.

 

As I keep a pulse on trends, one that is staying loud and strong, is about radical transparency. It may be because the internet tracks things in the blink of an eye, it may be that enough individuals in the younger generations are asking better questions, it may be that we know we can’t survive with underhanded deals and power struggles as a major form of business transaction.

 

Hertz is a voice that is bound to become louder and stronger. She makes a case for rights and responsibilities that are part of free trade. Rights and responsibilities; sounds like we are talking ethics here. Maybe, just maybe, we should start teaching about rights and responsibilities in school, from primary through senior high, and perhaps we should have parenting courses that include an ethical component. Then by the time high potentials have entered esteemed leadership development programs around the globe they will have a strong foundation upon which to discuss adaptive business models and financial structures that take both profit and larger social goals into account.

 

Hopefully we can have a groundswell of bright and competent leaders who know “we are all in it together and no one wins unless we all do”.  

Tags: Accountability, Business, Cambridge University, Economic, Economy, Ethics, Leadership, Leadership development, Money, Noreena Hertz, Silent Takeover

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