The global crisis and the marketing scholar

This is a treatise on wide-spread wrong-doings in Western economieswith emphasis on the role of markets and marketing. To stabilise the shaky world economy, measures have to be taken on all fronts. Short term hands on local action is imperative to mitigate immediate effects on people, and long term changes in economic systems, mindsets and behaviour are imperative to prevent future crises. Both mean action now. Governments, businesses and consumers should do their share – and so should academe. This is an advocacy for what theory, research and education should consider to foster economically responsible attitudes and build more robust and sustainable economic systems. The article is focused on areas that are special to the author; the crisis subject is too big anyway to allow exhaustive treatment. One vantage point is that something is wrong with social sciences. They shun the complexity of the real world and stay snug in a simplified world of statistics, shallow analyses, and outdated theory.