College of Business Administration

1) We seem to accept as a matter of course that human beings are 'naturally' driven to acquire more and more. Is this the case, or rather are we socialized into a consumption mentality? What evidence can you provide in support of your position?

2) Even if we are naturally acquisitive, are we hopelessly so? What would it take for us to adopt 'simpler' lifestyles?

3) There seems to be a great debate as to whether or not the environmental problems we face are related more to issues of overconsumption or overpopulation. Leaving this debate aside, what would be the policy implications of defining the principle problem as one of overconsumption? Of defining the principle problem as one of overpopulation?

4) Speculate as to the economic consequences of policies designed to reduce consumption--and the economic consequences of policies designed to reduce population.

5) One of the cornerstone precepts of both economic as well as environmental policy is the notion of sustainability. How does this concept relate to overconsumption and/or overpopulation? Can we achieve sustainability without addressing overconsumption and/or overpopulation?

6) There is enough food in the world today to support the entire human population, begging the question of whether or not the world is overpopulated. Is it? What is the definition of overpopulation, anyway?

7) Let's return to the question of our 'nature.' There was a time in our not-so-distant past in which overconsumption was viewed as evidence of a moral lapse--that greed, in short, was viewed as a moral vice. Now, however, we have 'progressed' to the point at which greed is viewed quite differently; consider the words of Gordon Gecko in the movie Wall Street:

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we’re not here to indulge in fantasy, but in political and economic reality.
America…America has become a second-rate power.
Its trade deficit and its fiscal deficit are at nightmare proportions.
Now, in the days of the free market, when our country was a top industrial power, there was accountability to the stockholder.
The Carnegies, the Mellons, the men that built this great industrial empire, did it because it was their money at stake.
Today, management has no stake in the company!
…The new law of evolution in corporate America seems to be the survival of the unfittest.
Well, in my book, you either do it right or you get eliminated.
…I am not a destroyer of companies.
I am a liberator of them!
The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good.
Greed is right.
Greed works.
Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.
Greed, in all its forms—greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge—has marked the upward surge of mankind, and greed—you mark my words—will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.
Thank you very much.

Is greed good, or is greed a moral vice?