What Do Milk Scandal and Financial Meltdown Have In Common?

The melamine-tainted milk scandal in China.
The financial meltdown in the US.

What do these two events have in common?
To me, they confirm two trends that deserve attention:

1 Declining ethical standards in the world

Greed has reared its ugly head again - this time higher than ever before. The scale is unprecedented, mind-boggling. Coupled with a callous disregard to the value of life and well-being to fellow citizens of the world, it has yielded wide repercussions, as we have seen in the last few weeks.

In China, milk farmers and traders disguised milk protein content with harmful melamine, hardly caring about the impact this might have on infants and other consumers of milk products. Milk manufacturers kept quiet for months after the dalliances were discovered.

In the US, Wall Street traders, promised millions for turning in good financial numbers, recklessly took on unimaginable risks. They took short-term views and escaped when the going became tough.

The lives of millions are now in jeopardy because of the selfish actions of a few.

2 Lack of effective regulation

Centralised regulation is a denounced practice in capitalistic economies and those economies which are heading that direction. Nevetheless, it is now clear that laissez-faire practices must be coupled with authoritarian regulation to protect the common people. The State must assume the responsibility of governing seriously and effectively.

If rules are already in place, like in the case of China, make sure that they are enforced, with severe penalty for encroachment or outright defiance. If rules are not in place, like in the US, it is time to set those rules.

Will this be the last time we see such turmoil? I won't bet my last penny on it. But let's hope at least this generation has learnt its lesson.