Expert encourages culture of global solidarity in response to financial crisis

Lima, Peru, Oct 29, 2010 / 17:44 pm

The former president of the World Monetary Fund and advisor to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Dr. Michel Camdessus, said this week a culture of global solidarity firmly grounded in ethics and that promotes the common good is needed to overcome the global financial crisis.

According to the Bishops’ Conference of Peru, Dr. Camdessus made his comments during the third session of the 11th National Social Week in Peru.

Dr. Camdessus said the world has been overcome by a culture of profit and that an economic model geared towards solidarity and selflessness needs to be developed.  He underscored that the current financial crisis affecting the world is not typical, but rather is the first crisis of globalization.

Its origins, he continued, stem from other factors, such as climate change, the food crisis, the energy crisis and a “cultural crisis,” which in his opinion is the most troublesome of all and receives the least attention from society.

Dr. Camdessus said the lack of ethics resulting from a culture that seeks immediate profit, and in which man views his life in exclusively economic terms, is another reason for the financial crisis.

In response, he said, a culture of the global good needs to be strengthened, based on a solidarity that is also global with respect to nations. The financial expert also urged that steps be taken to prevent a repeat of the crisis in the future, including ethical changes, the strengthening of institutions, the combating of poverty and corruption.