ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT: WHO CARES?

• Main Author: J. McNeill
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: LLC "CPC "Business Perspectives" 2012-06-01
• Series: Економіка розвитку
• Subjects: anthropology; matters of economics; human fallibility; ethical standards and practices; money influence
• Online Access: http://www.ed.ksue.edu.ua/ER/knt/ee122_62/e122mcn.pdf

In the article the author, an experienced anthropologist who worked in Central and Eastern Europe, has used his "outsider" professional perspective to look at questions of greed and need as they relate to matters of economics. The problems that arise due human fallibility in scientific knowledge application have been considered, specifically in the fields of anthropology and economics. Basing on the experience of anthropologists, whose scientific research has often been used in the past century to abuse vulnerable people groups, the author argues that the need for ethical standards and practices is even more urgent in the field of economics than it is in anthropology. The increased urgency results from the great influence that money has on human behavior. The development of standards and practices to check and balance human tendencies to exploit others will never be complete, he claims, but must be an ongoing priority. The process must also be creative to deal with the tendency to try to avoid or circumvent it. It has been concluded that we are professionally responsible to ensure that the results of our research and teaching help produce improving care for the needs of vulnerable people in the world around us.