Dalai Lama on Global Financial Crisis

Dalai Lama in an interview with the German paper Die Welt, June 20

Welt: The market doesn’t settle it, but you don’t believe in regulation either. Then what do we need?

Dalai Lama: I call it a responsible free market economy. In the end it depends on the individual. It depends on the individual sense of moral responsibility, self-discipline, values. The financial crisis is no crisis of the market economy itself, but a crisis of values.

Is he right? It is probably true that people who put profit above everything else (including reasonable risk management) will always find ways around regulation. And there weren’t only bigwigs involved. A lot of “ordinary people” showed an incredible faith in incredible returns on investment, too. A kind of faith that may justifiably be labeled greed, and demand generates supply.

The crisis is a reminder that things can’t be left to the market alone, but also a reminder that regulation alone won’t do.

Tags: accountability, Buddhism, business, capitalism, conscience, Dalai Lama, financial crisis, religion