The ever-deepening and never ending (as it seems) recession, after having affected the global production and consumption, has a new target, the morals and ethics of the world citizens. In the month that passed, many instances of crimes, protests and general unrest were reported which were in some or the other way rooted in the frustration caused by recession. Everyone’s desperate. The round of suicides is over. Now has come the feeling of fighting back and survival, by hook or by crook. And this is bad.
Protests and strikes raked through various parts of Europe with farmers, peasants, labors going on strike or causing blockades. This was their way of urging the government to revive the economy as soon as possible or rebelling against the current job cuts.
Read this: in Bosnia, workers of the alumina plant rebelled against declining metal prices, asking government to compensate for it. Strikers, almost thousands in number, staged a march in France, demanding higher remuneration and better job-protection. The Iceland Prime Minister, Geir Haarde, stepped down from his office following a series of protests by the citizens. This was the first incident where the credit crunch resulted in the ousting of a leader. All these are instances of mass unrest which can take an ugly shape if nothing worthwhile is done at the earliest.
Coming to the point of morality and ethics, according to Financial Risk Outlook, the worst credit crunch in 7 decades is capable of triggering massive financial crimes throughout the world and banking firms are where it will majorly take place. Criminals will resort to novel and innovative ideas and mostly the crime would be accomplished through disgruntled employees. These employees may be tempted to commit a theft or fund misappropriation to maintain his/her lifestyle or to achieve the designated sales target. Economic frauds, balance sheet misappropriation and other nefarious activities are on a rise, which will affect both, the consumers and the producers.
We are heading for a world populated with criminals and unethical beings and these people can’t really be blamed as they are doing it out of desperation to make both ends meet. True, money isn’t everything. But one shouldn’t really say this until he has enough of it.
