Category: business ethics

Daily Show – What If I Were Treated Like A Corporation

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Here’s a clip from the Daily Show kindly sent me by one of my fellow instructors.

James Pilant

Jayaraman Rajah Iyer Comments On The Post – The Homeowner As Victim, Not Deadbeat (via Chasing Fat Tails)

On By southwerkIn business ethics, ethics7 Comments

What Google gave me when I asked for a picture of Jayaraman Rajah Iyer.
Jayaraman Rajah Iyer (his web site) comments –

Reading the article I find it is devoide of the human element. A computer goes by some numbers and ticks off an Action letter that is taken as sacrosanct even to the extent of putting up a lock in a house that ought not to be attached. I’ve got a feeling these mortgage service agencies are paid on the basis of number of notices issued and they act indiscriminately. It is bank’s responsibility to assure action taken is legitimate to start with. My suggestion is Article 13 UNCAC: Participation of Society. Let consumer group be formed in every precinct, represented by a Trustee in the Board of the banks who would oversee the effective functioning of the foreclosure procedures from setting-up to execution.

It’s an interesting idea. I’ll need some more data on Article 13 UNCAC.

James Pilant

Matt Taibbi Shoots And Hits!!

On By southwerkIn business ethics, Capitalism, ethics, Government Failure, Philosophy of Business, White Collar Crime

Matt Taibbi is as usual dead on target. He does a veritible Indian War Dance on the horrors of the foreclosure crisis. Read the paragraph below and then go spend a delightful (quality of writing) and painful (financial corruption) story.

The moral angle to the foreclosure crisis — and, of course, in capitalism we’re not supposed to be concerned with the moral stuff, but let’s mention it anyway — shows a culture that is slowly giving in to a futuristic nightmare ideology of computerized greed and unchecked financial violence. The monster in the foreclosure crisis has no face and no brain. The mortgages that are being foreclosed upon have no real owners. The lawyers bringing the cases to evict the humans have no real clients. It is complete and absolute legal and economic chaos. No single limb of this vast man-­eating thing knows what the other is doing, which makes it nearly impossible to combat — and scary as hell to watch.

Excellent, exactly. This is not a moral crisis where six million Americans suddenly decided to buy too much house. This is a moral crisis where the biggest financial institutions in the world decided to take the home owners of America on a little trip into world finance. The banks had a hell of a vacation. The home owners never made it back.

James Pilant

The Homeowner As Victim, Not Deadbeat (via Chasing Fat Tails)

On By southwerkIn business ethics, Capitalism, Government Failure, White Collar Crime3 Comments

Amen!!

I’ve blogged on this exact subject.

You can be a mortgage company or a bank and your moral status is unchanged by the destroying the world economy and by using mortgages as play money in the global securities market. But if you are a consumer who falls behind in payments on your house, you’re evading your personal responsibility and should be booted out, children, furniture, pets and all.

James Pilant

One thing that annoys me to no end is the constantly espoused view that purportedly delinquent homeowners "deserve" to get foreclosed on. The idea is that when a homeowner defaults on his payments, he loses moral claims to "justice" when it comes to foreclosure, since he violated an agreement. In the context of the current foreclosure crisis, the view seems to be that ownership of the note is a purely legalistic issue; it doesn't get over the mor … Read More

via Chasing Fat Tails

THE UPPER HAND! (via Uganda Muslim Brothers and Sisters(UMBS) Marhaban مرحبا)

On By southwerkIn business ethics, ethics1 Comment

Giving money is a critical part of business activity in the United States. Without it, there are no non-profit corporations and many other economic activities are either wholly or partially funded by giving.

This posting is a discussion of the importance of giving for those who practice the religion of Islam. More interestingly, it discusses the rules of this giving and these rules I highly recommend.

We would do well in the United States to practice our giving with these kinds of things in mind, whatever our religious beliefs may be.

James Pilant

  Islam encourages the Muslim to spend from his money for Allah's Sake whenever he is capable of doing so, and it stresses on the great virtues of giving a charity. The prophet (PBUH) said, 'The Upper Hand is better than the Lower Hand. The upper hand is the one that gives, and the lower hand is the one that takes'. Allah SWT said in the Holy Book, 'The likeness of those who spend their money for Allah's sake, is as the likeness of a grain (of co … Read More

via Uganda Muslim Brothers and Sisters(UMBS) Marhaban مرحبا

Know Doubt About It (via Know Thank You)

On By southwerkIn business ethics, ethics

This is a very fine comment on industry self regulation. The author’s primary interest is in the food industry but much of what is said applies to any industry which claims the superiority of self regulation. I recommend this.

James Pilant

Know Doubt About It – Portland's Homegrown Smoker, a place where self-regulation is completely lost on me. A group called Corporate Accountability International runs a blog I enjoy called Value The Meal. They don't update the blog often, but the posts on there are really good and highlight some impacts of highly processed fast food. I bookmarked a post nearly a year ago called Self Regulation = No Regulation. It demonstrated that some companies in the food industry … Read More

via Know Thank You

A Question of Ethics (via Paul Kiser’s Blog)

On By southwerkIn business ethics, ethics

I teach business ethics. So, I see a lot of good ethics stories almost always featuring ethical dilemmas. This one takes a different angle. I like it and I recommend you read it.

James Pilant

A Question of Ethics by Paul Kiser USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679] Business ethics have waxed and waned over the centuries, but recently we have observed a severe lack of ethical conduct on a large-scale in recent years. The most recent world-wide economic crisis was triggered by years of unethical business practices that nearly p … Read More

via Paul Kiser's Blog

I’m not a doctor, but… (via Pharmaregulations)

On By southwerkIn business ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, ethics, Government Failure

Pharmaregulations goes more satirical today. Satirical arrows are fired in several directions and hits are scored. I recommend the post.

(I have a bitter criticism of these bloggers. They do not blog enough. I know they are students and have limited time, but this is good stuff, the more the better.)

James Pilant

We know that actors are used to direct-to-consumer promotional materials. Whether or not it's on the TV (hey Brook Shields, hope those lashes are growing in well!) or simply serving as the face of a disease (who knew the JoBros cared so much about health?). But there's a bit of an large and blurry ethical line in the sand when it comes to celebrities hocking drugs off-screen or even in doctor's offices. I did a little digging, and it turns out th … Read More

via

Business Ethics Blog’s 5th Blogaversary (via The Business Ethics Blog)

On By southwerkIn business ethics, ethics, Teaching4 Comments

Chris MacDonald has spent five years writing on the subject of business ethics. How many people have learned from his words, how many choices were made differently because of his moral ardor, how much he has made life better for all of us by his pursuit of ethics, all these could be the subject of debate. But the only debate that’s really viable here is the amount of good he has done. I do not believe an objective human being can conclude that his influence was null or small.

Let’s celebrate his success and hope for another five years (or better yet, a whole lifetime) of ethics blogging.

James Pilant

Business Ethics Blog's 5th Blogaversary Five years ago today, I posted my very first blog entry. It had no real substance, but it was a start. Five years later, I'm still blogging. And given that the average lifespan of a blog is something less than the average lifespan of a fruit fly, I think I now get to call myself a veteran blogger. Over the last five years, I've written over 720 blog entries. I've written on topics big and small and ridiculous. I've written about the collapse of m … Read More

via The Business Ethics Blog

Lots of Links on the Foreclosure Fraud Crisis (via Rortybomb)

On By southwerkIn business ethics, Capitalism, ethics, Government Failure, Philosophy of Business2 Comments

As usual, our good friend, Rortybomb does not let a day go by (even a holiday) without staying on top of the mortgage foreclosure crisis.

My compliments!

James Pilant

If you are not reading Rortybomb, let me ask you, “Why not and how soon can you start?”

Like you were going to get any work done today. Chris Hayes has really been on the foreclosure crisis over at MSNBC. Here he is, substituting for Lawrence O'Donnell, interviews noted foreclosure defense attorney Bubba Grimsley about servicer abuse. I can't embed the video, but the link is here (also here). Here he is on Rachel Maddow also interviewing Matt Taibbi on the recent foreclosure fraud … Read More

via Rortybomb