An Exercise on Human Values, Ethics, and Political Economy

One of the most salient features of the 21stcentury is the rising concern about economic inequality in many countries around the world to the point that it is assessed as “the defining challenge of our time” Inequality has been observed with concern by multilateral organizations, politicians and religious leaders. One popular idea (or proposal) to reduce economic inequality is to have governments tax the rich and subsidize the poor. Many support this idea while many others oppose it, reflecting two divergent economic and philosophical arguments on income/wealth inequality itself and the use of tax policy for income/wealth redistribution.The present paper is an exercise designed to help business studentsto integrate ethics with critical thinking in the context of discussing “the defining challenge of our time” and a moral obligation to work for a just distribution of income and wealth. The primary objective of this exercise is to enhance self-awareness of each student regarding such fundamental questions asWhy do I believe what I believe? Do I believe such a common dictum as “All men [and women] are equal”?Our ideas spring from ideologies,andeconomics (which is the foundation of businesseducation at universities) has always been partly a vehicle for the ruling ideology of each period aswell as partly a method of scientific investigation. Through this exercise, each student is expected to evaluate himself/herself critically and find whatkind of ideology he/she currently believes in and why he/she believes what he/she believes.