Focus on moral issues
Bangladesh's economists will have to come out of traditional economic norms and focus on moral issues when dealing with finance for the sake of welfare of the masses, said economist Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud.
He was addressing the launch of a book written by economist Abul Barkat at the Cirdap auditorium in the capital yesterday.
The title of the book roughly translates as the dearth of philosophy in economic discipline.
Prof Mahmud criticised economists, saying they analyse economy from a scientific point of view hoping to get a Nobel Prize, which is mainly given out on science.
As a result, economists do not give consideration to moral issues in finance and the environment in their economic analysis, he said.
“Only Nobel laureate Amartya Sen talked about social welfare through economics in his book,” he said.
Mahmud said the world economy was now facing a crisis due to the absence of morality in the economic disciplines and economists would have to address this issue in their academic analysis.
Inequality is not taken into consideration in economic disciplines. For instance, the value of Tk 15 is different to the rich and the poor but in the economic term, it is the same, he said.
“As a result, economists do not want to talk about inequality. We should not take decisions only based on economic logic,” he said.
Appreciating Barkat's book, the economist said the author addressed moral poverty in his publication.
Criticising the media, economist Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad said discussions about economic growth get priority in the news but issues such as inequality, poverty and haor life do not get focus.
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