"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton

The Rabbis and the Credit Crunch

In the inaugural lecture of the Center for the Study of Judaism and Economics at the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies, Nobel Laureate economist Professor Robert (Yisrael) Aumann talked about the link between economics, Judaism and the current economic downturn. Aumann argues that Judaism subscribes to a market philosophy and contains a blueprint for solving today’s economic woes.

The JIMS has the lecture archived on its YouTube page in three parts here.

In an article written for Israeli magazine Global Business, Corinne Sauer of the Jerusalem Institute said Aumann’s lecture showed how the Torah and the Talmud acknowledge the importance of economic incentives within a competitive market economy.

As one example of fundamental market-oriented principles inherent in Judaism, Professor Aumman cited the support in the Talmud for unfettered price competition, adding that the Talmud preceded Adam Smith’s groundbreaking ideas on price competition by hundreds of years. In the Talmud, there is absolutely no room for price fixing; only support for ensuring the use of honest weights and measures. In a competitive market economy, the firm selling at the highest price will either go out of business or be forced to decrease its price in order to survive.