The way out of the crisis

Academics1 Comment

1663.jpgJanuary 2009 | By Rafael Pampillon, Professor at IE Business School

Spain has the same symptoms as those that preceded the Great Depression. And just like then, the only way forward is to facilitate loans and increase public spending.

My colleague and friend Pedro Schwartz published an article (“Is Pampillón wrong?â?) here on 31 October in which he expressed his disagreement with the economic policy measures I propose for putting this economic crisis behind us. How does he differ?

1. Professor Schwartz disagrees with the diagnosis, and this is most important since a realistic diagnosis is fundamental if the right policies are to be applied. He considers that, although we are experiencing an ebb of the cycle, we are not on our way to a depression like that of the 1930s.

My diagnosis is different, since I consider that the Spanish economy is in crisis owing to an insufficient aggregate demand of unknown proportions and that, if we do not apply the right measures, we will very soon enter a long, deep recession.

We must remember that the Great Depression of the 1930s came from a fall in demand, which led to high levels of unemployment, negative economic growth and deflation. To overcome that crisis, expansive aggregate demand policies were applied, together with increases in public spending.

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Business schools and CSR

Academics

IE Focus - Business Schools and CSRJanuary 2009 | By Max Oliva, Professor at IE Business School

Business schools are playing a crucial role in the evolution of social responsibility. Having proved how important it is, they now face the challenge of how to develop it further.

CSR has evolved considerably in recent years. It has gone from being a stand-alone concept to being more and more aligned with business, with clear added value. Now that the “CSR, yes or no” debate has finally been won, we are in the “how” phase, rather than still talking about Friedmanâ??s theories (1.)

Business schools play a key role, from the dissemination and evolution of the concept, to involvement in the various conversations, how it should be integrated in the business strategy, how it should be gauged and managed, which parameters should be used, etc.

All this without losing sight of the role they play in putting talent in contact with the business world. On the one hand, business is interested in CSR as a strategy; 70% of businesses consider it a way to stand out from their competitors (2.). As far as talent is concerned, the increase in the number of people searching for work that not only satisfies economic and professional career requirements but that also offers the potential for contributing to society has increased by more than 70% over the last five years (3.)

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