Ethical Issues in the Japanese Economy
Sep 15th, 2010 by Zheng (Kathy) Li
Ethical issues arise in every country, but the recent intervention by the Japanese in the currency markets stirred up discussion in many countries, especially in the Group of Seven.
The Group of Seven, also known as the G7, maintains an unwritten rule of international finance that exchange rates should be “freely floating” and that currency should be determined naturally by investors. Japan, however, forcefully sold hundreds of billions of yen against the U.S. dollar to devalue its currency. The Japanese took advantage of its trading partners. For its own national well-being, Japan decided to risk the economy of the rest of the world.
Although many argue that Japan made a wise choice, and that the Bank of Canada should follow in its footsteps, I do not believe that it will be an ethical decision. It is not right to ignore the balance of the world’s economy by manipulating a country’s currency for its own benefit. Only, the Japanese seemed to love the idea.
Every man for himself. Is that ethical in the world of business? If every country only considered itself, I doubt that the human race would get very far.
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Article source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/yen-move-changes-currency-landscape/article1707860/