This is how I have become accustomed to opening and closing each day. For most of my adult life, I have been a banker and in the business of buying and selling money. There is a common misconception among the faithful that having money is bad, and having a...
As business people, sometimes we forget just how connected the world of work is to the work of God in the world. Without question, individual business persons are moral agents. However, based upon the accepted conception of the corporation, there is often a lack of...
No matter what your ideology, there is common disdain for market manipulators, fraud, and theft. There is little disagreement about the repugnance of taking advantage of senior citizens through deceptive investment schemes or conning vulnerable families into...
A few years ago, I had an interesting conversation with one of our country’s most well-known and respected business leaders. It started as I was chatting with the man’s wife, and she asked me what I did for fun. I could have told her I enjoyed golf, or gardening, or...
It was a nun and not an economist or political philosopher that reminded the world there is one timeless measure of a home’s value: love. In 1979, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was awarded the Nobel Prize. In her acceptance speech, she was asked what we...
As investment professionals, when we think about investments, we think about asset classes: stocks, bonds, hedge funds and the like. As theologians, when we think about investments, we think about “assets” somewhat differently. The challenge is for each to understand...
There are more of us than there are of them. More laity than religious, that is. Throughout history, the great saints have gifted the Church with unique charisms and rules for religious life. But what does that mean for those who live and work in the world—the...
Ask an accountant what a capital asset is and you will be told that it is an asset owned to generate a profit, but is not easily sold for cash in the normal course of business operations. In business school, we learn that these are assets such as land,...