A seminar on “Ethical Economics: The Goal of Human life” was organised by the Department of Analytical and Applied Economics of the Utkal University here on September 7.
It was primarily to explore the possibilities of incorporating values and moral principles of life in the study of economics. The discussions largely drew from the essence of different Yogas from the Bhagvat Gita.
Sumit Kondoi, an engineer from Nepal renamed as Shri Sanatan Gourang Das through the Iskcon, initiated the discussion.
Going deeper into the goal of economic agents such as consumers, he said that the essence of optimisation of satisfaction is much beyond mere material gratification and an ideal way of enhancing our satisfaction is to integrate virtues and moral principles highlighted in the Srimad Bhagvat Gita as the way of life.
Michhel Morin Gadahhar, originally an economist from France, renamed by Iskcon as Acharya Srinivas Das used Vedanta philosophy as a tool of analysis of objective functions of economic pursuits. He highlighted the fact that in spite of rapid progress in the so called economic front of production and consumption in recent years, people in general remain unhappy.
An ideal approach towards planning for individual economic realization as well as national planning should therefore integrate spiritual and ethical dimension of life.