'The Road from Ruin': First, Do No Harm: Managers Need a Hippocratic Oath
The financial meltdown of 2008 will be remembered as a crisis not only of regulation, but of values; a painful reminder that good markets run on trust, and not only self-interest. Even Adam Smith's butcher understood that selling unsafe meat, no matter how profitably, was a terribly bad idea, both for his clients and himself.
In "The Road from Ruin," Matthew Bishop and Michael Green argue that business leaders need to put values at the heart of capitalism and suggest that asking managers to commit to a professional code of conduct may be a good start.
The medical and legal professions have long adopted codes of conduct that explicitly recognize a commitment to serving the greater good and doing no harm. Admittedly, the codes have not eliminated abuses, but they have helped shape the attitudes and values of those who practice these professions and have increased the trust of those who use their services. Most of us, for example, trust that our physician will not intentionally prolong our ailments to charge more fees.
