The economic crisis is also a crisis of ethics and values and must lead to a “rethink” of the moral framework around finance, according to a report to be released in Davos.
Most of more than 130,000 Facebook users in ten countries polled by Georgetown University in the US, believe that companies should be as responsible to employees and clients as to their shareholders. Klaus Schwab, the founder of the forum, said that religion and faith communities were vital to an essential debate on reform of the “architecture” of international finance.
The forum has responded to the crisis by expanding its dialogue with faith communities beyond its focus on Islam and the West to look at education, health, climate change and business ethics. In a series of essays by religious leaders for the report, Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said: “Politics left up to managers and economics left up to brokers add up to a recipe for social and environmental chaos.”