What is going on in the world? How is it that Bear Sterns can go from $20 a share to $2? Basically, my feeling is that the credit crunch of the past 6 months sends a serious message to us all, a message about value.

The problem with board members who rely on econometrics and statistics to forecast company growth and decide who the CEO should be is that they have become too focussed on the profit, and have completely forgotten value. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, who summed up the crisis we’re in quite well: beware the man who puts a price on everything whilst not knowing the value of anything. The sub-prime mortgage is a result of a bunch of spin-doctors who tried to put a price on things without caring about value.

Blackberries, Smart-phones, spread-betting software and all the other plagues of today’s world have made the average business proposition a mile-wide and an inch deep. Very little in today’s business environment adds actual value, carries real substance or does anything beside enrich the very people who push them.

Take cell-phones for instanceâ€¦ its in Motorola’s best interests to sell you something that is highly desirable but only lasts a year, to ensure that you are a repeat customer. Now, there may be nothing wrong with that, but in a world where 1 million cell-phones are thrown away on a daily-basis in an environment that is already destabilized and polluted, perhaps we should forsake profit in the name of sustainability. Doesn’t is turn your stomach to think about the land-fill that will one day be home to all the Guitar Hero 3 guitars sold this past Christmas.

I think the ways and the reasons of and for doing business need to be fundamentally re-appraised. Guitar Hero 3 does not give any value to society, the consumer or the environment. A real guitar on the other hand is a piece of art that can be handed down from generation to generation. Another product with inherent value is wine. Wine farmers have the environment and eco-systems in their best interests, and sustainability is at the heart of their business. The jobs created along the supply chain enrich communities, and its production enlivens a century’s old tradition of pairing wine with food in the company of friends and spreading good will. The contemporary wine-lover is a person who inherently appreciates value and whom Oscar Wilde would hold in high-esteem. Long-live the love of wine!

Story of Stuff

Tags: Economy