Rebuilding from
the Recession
in Your Heart
FRANCIS-CANOMICS

“Jobless claims
report is setback
to recovery”
Headline / CNNMoney.com / October 1, 2009

“It’s not going to
be an easy slog
from here.”
Jim Hughes
Rutgers University economist

QUESTION:
Is this the worst economy
since the Great Depression?

Carter
ADMINISTRATION

Prime Rate
20%
April 2, 1980
Source: www.wsjprimerate.us

“Are you better off today than
you were four years ago?”
Ronald Reagan

Paul Volcker
“The U.S., along with the rest
of the world, is in the midst
of a great recession.”

col!lapse [kuh laps] –noun. A sudden
and complete failure; a breakdown.

“You will be confronted
with questions every day
that test your morals.
Think carefully, and for
your sake, do the right
thing, not the easy thing.”
Commencement Speaker
St. Anselm College, 2002

“Ex-Tyco Chief
Executive Kozlowski
Sentenced to 8 to 25
Years”
Headline / Bloomberg.com / 09.19.2005

Strong Fundamental Values
“We must demand of ourselves
and of each other the highest
standards of individual and
corporate integrity. We safeguard
company assets. We comply with
all company policies and laws.”
Source: The Tyco Guide to Ethical Conduct

! Regency mahogany
bookcase, c. 1810, $105,000
“We safeguard ! George I walnut tallcase
clock, $113,750
company assets.”
! Custom queen bed skirt,
$4,995
! Ascherberg grand piano,
c. 1895, $77,000
! Chandelier, Painted Iron,
c. 1930, $32,500
! Pair of Italian armchairs,
c. 1780, $64,278
! Persian rug, 20 feet by 14
feet, $191,250

“In corporate
America, crime
pays. Handsomely.
Grotesquely, even.”
Arianna Huffington
Pigs at the Trough

Bad Judgment?
Just days after receiving
an $85 billion taxpayer-
funded loan, AIG spent
$440,000 to pamper
executives for an entire
week at the extravagant
St. Regis Resort.

Corporate
>> FEUDALISM

a RECESSION
HEART
OF THE

TRICKLE-DOWN THEORY
When government
allows businesses to
flourish, their resulting
profits will ultimately
trickle down to lower-
income individuals.
Aghion, P., & Bolton, P. (1997). A theory of
trickle-down growth and development. Review
of Economic Studies, 64(219), 151-172.

Reaganomics

Reach Out vs. Trickle Down

a case study

“And standing there
bareheaded in the sun,
apologizing to the beggar,
the strangest thought
flashed across his mind.
He and this poor man
were brothers.”
Sara Maynard
Princess Poverty

“Francis, go and repair
my church, which, as you
”
see, is falling into ruins.
SOURCE: Edmund O’Gorman, St. Francis for Today

Stones and mortar?

Fix the recession!

Stocks and bonds?

“Furloughs
Hit the White-
Collar Set”
Headline / Wall Street Journal / 02.24.2009

Facing $38 million in budget cuts,
school officials chose to furlough every
employee for five days.

Faculty and staff raised
over $70,000 to help
reimburse 158 lower-wage
coworkers for lost income
during the furloughs.

“And last but not least,
we wish to thank our loyal
employees. Without them...”
—Final paragraph of every annual report

60
MILLION

“I prefer to live in a world
where this is ordinary.”
Leonard Abess

9.8 percent

“Was thinking that if
each of us helped just
1 person find a job, we
could start making a
dent in unemployment.
You game?”
Mark Stelzner

In just six months, over
24,000
Job Angels have started helping people find jobs.

Francis-canomics

“
THE EARLY FRANCISCANS,
WITH THEIR PASSIONATE
SYMPATHY FOR THE
SUFFERING AND
The Catholic World
October 1903 OPPRESSED, LARGELY
CONTRIBUTED TO THE
FINAL DISAPPEARANCE
OF CORRUPT FEUDALISM.”

“A little man may
do a great deal of
harm; and pray,
why not a little
man do a great
deal of good?”
Cotton Mather, 1825
Essays to Do Good

If a small group of business figures
can cast suspicion on the integrity of
an entire nation, why can’t the actions
of a small number of morally strong
individuals restore the public’s faith
that people are generally good?

Francis-canomics
You might not become a saint—or
get the publicity afforded notorious
business scoundrels.

But those close to you will notice, and
you’ll succeed in proving that there are still
honorable people
in the world today.

You game?

Rebuilding from
the Recession in
Your Heart
FRANCIS-CANOMICS