Svinjoliki gospodari svemira: da li je pohlepa kriva za finansijsku krizu?

Abstract

First part of the paper presents and analyzes some of the main arguments, which support the popular belief that greed is to blame for the 2008 financial crisis.The second part lists the counter-arguments that challenge this position in two ways: one set of arguments claims that greed is either not the main and single factor, or that is not the culprit at all; the second set, on the other hand, states that the scope of its influence is undermined and underrepresented, as well as that it is not considered in its ‘structural’ but only individual dimension. The final part of the paper presents a specific socio-psychological approach that could elucidate the extent to which unregulated greed could cause economic breakdowns. In addition, this approach attempts to question and operationally thematise implicit laws of modern capitalism with regard to both the recurring ups and downs that characterize it and the contradictory understanding and reception of the concept of acquisition, upon which it tend to built society.