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Articles on Greed

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On the occasion of a 2011 match between Portugal and Argentina, Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Lionel Messi (right) show off a pair of high-end watches. The riches have only continued to flow in. Fanny Schertzer/Wikipedia

Top football stars: famous because they’re rich, or rich because they’re famous?

A new study explores the how the celebrity and status of professional footballers in the “Big Five” European leagues can affect both performance and pay.
Shakespeare did an excellent job of depicting the real nature of money, Karl Marx believed. A £2 coin issued in 2016 to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. (Shutterstock)

Shakespeare’s ‘Timon of Athens,’ penned in plague-time, shows money corrupts but can also heal

Shakespeare understood that our fate depends on fostering the humility and empathy that dethrones money and transforms it into something we use to advance the common good.
Human beings want more even if it comes at the expense of others. svershinsky/Shutterstock.com

What causes greed and how can we deal with it?

Some parents were recently charged with paying bribes for their children’s admission to top colleges. Religious thought can help us understand what drives such greed and also provide ethical guidance.
Under pressure, young entrepreneurs would tend to forget to take into account the effects of their ambitions on their surroundings. Just dance/Shutterstock

Start-up nation’: a symptom, but of what?

The enthusiasm for business creation is not without negative consequences, especially for the many who fail. However, the “all entrepreneurs” discourse remains predominant.
An addiction to accumulating money is every bit as powerful and destructive as a drug addiction. Upsplash/Sharon McCutcheon

How money is destroying the world

Wealth addiction is as powerful as any other, but instead of urging addicts to get help, we often admire them. Yet they do much more damage to the world at large than your average coke fiend.
Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. 20th Century Fox/IMDB

Wall Street at 30: is greed still good?

Oliver Stone’s 1987 film Wall Street turns 30 this month. Its infamous character’s mantra, “greed is good”, seems oddly prescient with greater inequality and an even more rampant culture of greed.
Consumers often distrust mission-driven groups that earn profits. Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock.com

A big hurdle do-good companies face

People may initially assume the worst when they encounter for-profit companies with social missions. What can these social ventures with good intentions do to gain people’s support?
Malawian President Peter Mutharika has promised to fight the corruption that has seen donors withdraw their support for his impoverished nation. Reuters/Eldson Chagara

What drives corruption in Malawi and why it won’t disappear soon

Malawi appears to have learnt nothing from the biggest state corruption scandal that rocked the country two years ago, leading to donors withdrawing their support. The same conditions still remain.
If companies won’t see things differently, we need to. frankspandl/Pixel

Trying to cash in on climate change won’t fool nature

We find ourselves in an era of what we might call creative self-destruction. We’re destroying ourselves – it’s as simple as that. Economic growth and exploiting nature’s resources have long gone hand-in-hand…

Greed more common than generosity

Greed is more likely to be “paid forward” than generosity. In an experiment, participants were given four tasks - two easy…

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