Pope Wants Wealthy To Get Ethics

Rome (AFP) - Pope Francis on Monday denounced those getting rich through speculation in financial markets, calling on them to use their investments for the good of humanity.

"It is increasingly intolerable that financial markets are shaping the destiny of peoples rather than serving their needs, or that the few derive immense wealth from financial speculation while the many are deeply burdened by the consequences," he said.

The pope, who has said he wants to create "a poor church for the poor", has frequently spoken out against the "idolatry of money" since his election last year.

The 77-year-old said "it is important that ethics once again play its due part in the world of finance" and that markets should "serve the interests of peoples and the common good of humanity".

Francis singled out speculation in agricultural markets calling it "a scandal which seriously compromises access to food on the part of the poorest members of our human family".

Speculation is the act of trading in an asset, or conducting a financial transaction, that has a significant risk of losing most or all of the initial outlay, in expectation of a substantial gain. 

With speculation, the risk of loss is more than offset by the possibility of a huge gain; otherwise, there would be very little motivation to speculate. 

While it is often confused with gambling, the key difference is that speculation is generally tantamount to taking a calculated risk and is not dependent on pure chance, whereas gambling depends on totally random outcomes or chance. 

Many of the world's largest banks, including Barclays, Deutsche Bank and UBS, have sold off or slashed the size of their commodities businesses in the face of heavy criticism for speculating in commodities markets.

Instead, the pope called on people to put their money into ethical banks and "impact investors", who use investments to help the poor.

EDUCATION

Do we still have integrity?

Tara Bannow, reported in the Des Moines Register, the following:

The dean of the University of Iowa College of Education announced her resignation Monday following a flurry of reports last week that high-ranking UI officials had ordered the destruction of records pertaining to faculty and staff dissatisfaction over her performance.

Margaret Crocco has served as dean of the college since July 1, 2011. In an email to faculty and staff Monday morning, Crocco, who did not immediately return a call seeking comment, wrote that she had submitted her resignation letter to Executive Vice President and Provost P. Barry Butler effective December 14, and he had accepted.

“It has been a privilege to serve as dean of the College of Education,” Crocco wrote. “My goal has always been to advance the best long-term interests of the College. Over the last eighteen months, we have accomplished a great deal. I trust that the implementation of our new Strategic Plan will serve the College well in addressing the changing landscape of higher education in this country.”

Butler will announce an interim dean later this week, according to a UI press release.

“It is remarkable what she has been able to do during her short time as dean,” Butler wrote in a statement. “Especially in terms of raising public awareness about the College of Education, throughout Iowa and nationally.”

The resignation follows reports that Butler and other high-ranking UI officials ordered the destruction of comments left in the 2012 CoE Working at Iowa survey, in which faculty and staff members criticized Crocco’s performance. All seven members of the college’s Faculty Advisory Committee resigned last Friday following reports of the actions by administrators.

WOW, is pretty much all I can say at this point…

It find it incredulous that College administrators would want to keep this hidden, but I also find it admirable and with much integrity exhibited that not only did the Dean resign but all of the members of the Faculty Advisory Committee as well.

I do think that a good argument was made concerning the fact that comments made on evaluations should remain private and be the topic of a private performance evaluation; however,  Colleges are not private as they educate our children and future leaders of our country; and, to hide evidence of performance by one’s peers as well as by one’s students is to condone that same behavior from our students and graduates.

That my friends is unethical and lacks integrity.

One would hope that educators would set better examples…