ABSTRACT
Analysing an economy without considering the moral quality of economic action is like researching fish without designating the role of water; water connects all elements in an aquarium, just like morality connects all participants in the economy. In new financial ethics, the focus is on the morality of each of the stakeholders. At the same time, it exposes the core vulnerability of this approach. It is neither regulations nor the law that is responsible for fairness and justice in a society, but it is every (economic) participant’s responsibility. From customer to employee, supplier, bank and government, every institution and every individual carries their own moral responsibility. The more important the role of a person is, or the larger the institution gets, the greater is the responsibility that they carry. Subsequently, the (financial) economy becomes complex. The works of Kahneman (2011) and Ariely (2012) aptly show that psychology and morality are severely underrated elements in everyday economic behaviour. Rational behaviour, as well as moral behaviour, is not as logical as it sounds. For example, we all think that we are honest; however, Ariely suggests that many of us unconsciously are less honest and sincere than we think we are. His scientific research even suggests that, in fact, honest people do not exist at all.1 This is quite a claim. New financial ethics aims to address and emphasise the role of ethics and integrate moral behaviour into both economic action and daily economic discourse again.
