Ramaswamy Thanu

Character and Global Economic Development Ramaswamy Thanu

Economic development is a global objective. All countries want to achieve higher rate of growth to provide citizens higher living standards, national prosperity and a higher quality of life. But have they achieved real progress? Is growth subject to sustainability of resources of all kinds? Has character any role in economic development? We shall briefly consider these aspects and examine the need for any corrective action. Some countries achieve economic growth at phenomenal rates. The standards of living of their citizens have gone up. At the same time many countries find their growth neutralized by the growing population. They lack access to resources and technology and are unable to command them. However, there are limits to economic growth. The world's resources are limited and exhaustible over a period of time. So wisdom demands we use them judiciously and develop other resources which will not deplete and which can make a vital contribution to growth with sustainability. We have to identify other resources including intangibles. Just as 'time' has come to be considered as a resource needing proper and productive utilization, why not we consider character as a resource. Why not make a sincere effort to develop it among all citizens so that the whole world benefits substantially. This has been a serious lacuna in the theory of economic development. Economists talk about labor as a resource or factor of production. But with refinement of this factor through character the results increase many fold. Though at times reference is made to character development, no concerted effort has been made by experts, particularly management and economic professionals. Except for occasional references to value systems no serious research has been done to realize their potential as a resource.