Ethics and the Global Financial Crisis

Boudewijn de Bruin is Professor of Financial Ethics at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. He is a consultant with the financial services industry, has taught in various executive MBA programmes across the world, and is a regular contributor to the media. He runs a large project on Trusting Banks, with Alex Oliver (University of Cambridge) and financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), which draws together philosophers, social scientists, policymakers and finance professionals.

'The witty aphorism, 'never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity', suggests that malice and stupidity are distinct, that ethics and knowledge are two separate aspects of decision making. But what if they are closely connected? The author of this original and insightful book, Boudewijn de Bruin, brings together classical ethical theory, recent psychological research, and a deep understanding of modern financial practice to offer a prescription for reforming our troubled financial system that focuses on the character of decision makers. The provocative idea that the act of knowing has a moral dimension and carries with it moral responsibility provides a novel and fruitful approach to much-needed financial reform.' John Boatright, Raymond C. Baumhart, S. J., Graduate School of Business, Loyola University Chicago

• Foreword; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Financial ethics: virtues in the market; 2. Epistemic ethics: virtues of the mind; 3. Internalizing virtues: the clients; 4. Case study I: primes and subprimes; 5. Incorporating virtue: the banks; 6. Case study II: nerds and quants; 7. Communicating virtues: the raters; 8. Case study III: scores and accounts; Conclusion; Glossary; References; Index.