Moral analysis of an economic collapse – an exercise in practical ethics

Abstract

In this paper, I discuss how a Working group on ethics dealt with the question whether the collapse of the Icelandic banks and related financial setbacks can to some extent be explained by morality and work practice. I describe how the Working group delineated its subject matter by evaluating practice in the financial sector, the administration, the political sector and the social or cultural sector. I demonstrate the approach used by the Working group by discussing some important examples which throw light on some aspects of its manifold analyses. The examples show how different aspects of morality are of importance in an analysis of the events that took place.

Keywords

• banking
• professionalism
• politics
• responsibility
• social discourse