Moral Capitalism: Reconciling Private Interest with the Public Good [Hardcover]

Stephen Young (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Moral Capitalism is based on the Caux Round Table (CRT) Principles for Business, a code of ethics that sets consistent and attainable worldwide guidelines for how business can behave responsibly and ethically. The book shows readers how to manage market capitalism and globalization for economic and social justice and fairness, in the process improving individual lives and communities. Author Stephen Young argues that "brute capitalism" — profit-seeking regardless of effects — must give way to moral capitalism to attain widespread monetary and moral well-being. Emphasizing a cross-cultural perspective that draws on Chinese and Japanese philosophies of selflessness, Young links moral aspirations to practical, day-to-day guidelines for a profitable approach to business that is also ethical, resulting in the public good.

About the Author

Stephen Young is the Global Executive Director of the Caux Round Table, a network of senior business leaders around the world dedicated to corporate responsibility. The Caux Round Table is creator one of the most well-developed and widely publicized codes of corporate ethics.

Young has worked extensively in foreign relations. He has worked with the Council on Foreign Relations and consulted for the United States Department of State. He discovered the Bronze Age civilization of Ban Chiang Thailand, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site; and he opened America to the refugees from the Vietnam War in 1975. He successfully suggested to Hanoi and the Bush, Sr. Administration in Washington to support his proposal for a United Nations Interim Administration of Cambodia. He was Honorary Consul-General of Singapore from 1990 to 1996.

Young's 's law career is equally broad-based. He brought reform to the Harvard Law School as Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, and he championed an innovative law-school curriculum as Dean of the Hamline Law School. As an attorney, he sought to prevent diversion of $425 million of public proceeds of the tobacco settlement in Minnesota from the state’s treasury into private pockets. He challenged in Federal Court under the First Amendment’s separation of church and state the use of a radical religious approach to the environment in management of public lands.

Young has written commentary for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Pioneer Press, and The StarTribune. He has provided commentary on foreign affairs for television stations. His web commentary is available at Fifthcolumnmag.com.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 226 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1 edition (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576752577
• ISBN-13: 978-1576752579
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,114,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ideas, ideals, and real, useable principles, March 4, 2004

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moral Capitalism: Reconciling Private Interest with the Public Good (Hardcover)

Written by Stephen Young (the Global Executive Director of the renowned Caux Round Table, an international network of business executives), Moral Capitalism: Reconciling Private Interest With The Public Good showcases the "Caux Round Table's Seven General Principles for Business" which are the collective antidote to the destructive sides of dog-eat-dog corporate world and the crony-favoring insider deals that come with "brute capitalism" unmitigated by justice or fairness. Discussing moral capitalism as the only system that can truly counter poverty, tyranny, and the needs of individuals and nations alike, Moral Capitalism is an impressive and strongly recommended collection of ideas, ideals, and real, useable principles, as seen through the eyes of a prosperous businessman striving to balance public good with the corporate bottom line.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful!, July 29, 2005

By	Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract.com" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Moral Capitalism: Reconciling Private Interest with the Public Good (Hardcover)

The corporate scandals of recent years have led to much hand wringing about corporate values. Now comes Stephen Young, head of the Caux Round Table - an international network of executives focused on corporate responsibility - with simple rules for turning the hand wringing into action. Some of Young's advice seems to be common sense: Tell the truth, for instance, and follow the law. By encouraging capitalists to go beyond following the letter of the law, Young offers a useful guide to ethical decision making. At times, though, he seems to give capitalists a free pass. For instance, Young argues that moral capitalists have little responsibility to withhold harmful products such as cigarettes and liquor from consumers who want to buy them. We recommend this easy-to-digest study to anyone intrigued by the ethical implications of capitalism. The book is a useful presentation of the argument that capitalism, the most powerful economic system in history, must balance might and right.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moral Capitalism, August 14, 2005

By	Nick Veltjens (Near Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Moral Capitalism: Reconciling Private Interest with the Public Good (Hardcover)

A book of tremendous importance. Communism committed suicide, and Capitalism needed the rescue this read can provide. Individuals, business leaders, educators, governments, economists plus some others can get extremely valuable guidelines here in how to steer the world to a safer and more enriching destiny, if they listen to the Caux Round Table's 7 principles.
I have already recommended it to some important people in my reach (and beyond)