No Need for Greed

摘要

The desire for gain drives our economy, but greed has no rightful role. Protesters waving signs and chanting slogans demanding economic reform have been making the news lately. Many of their objections often focus on what they call greed, as used in phrases such as corporate greed, capitalist greed or Wall Street greed. Our economic system is accused of being incurably infected with greed, and some are calling for it to be abolished. The protesters may have a point about greed. It does seem that greed in high places could have played a part in creating our current, persistent, economic woes. But is our economic system inherently corrupt? Is it really based on greed? Must we reluctantly accept greed as a necessary evil? Answering these questions in a serious way must start with some serious thinking about greed.