As some of you may have seen in the media, many observers are blaming business leaders for the global economic crisis. The thinking here is that the “Masters of the Universe” got greedy and tried to run global economies too hard and, when it was all said and done, the money ran out and everyone is left picking up the pieces. I can’t say that I necessarily agree with this thinking, but I find articles about it to be really interesting. The article linked below is from The Economist and its message is basically pushing that argument forward with the additional argument that business schools were a primary culprit in what went down. The author argues that the love affair that the world has had with business over the past couple of decades is coming to an end and everything will be different as a result. It’s an interesting argument, but I sure hope the author is wrong because I’ve still got several years of B-school loans left to pay off and I need to get a HUGE bang for my buck from that MBA

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Title: “Business: The End of the Affair”

Author: Lucy Kellaway Date: Nov 13, 2009

Source: The Economist, http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742624&d=2010

Excerpt from intro text:

“The love affair with business started in the 1980s and has grown into a mighty passion backed not just by money but by glamour and class. In 2009 the money ran out, but the mood was one of such chaos and confusion that it was hard to tell what was going on underneath. In 2010 it will become clear that the class and glamour are draining away from business too. It will be the end of the affair: business will be cool no longer.

Throughout this affair the business schools played the role of cupid. First, they made the study of business into an (almost) respectable academic discipline. More importantly, they made it socially acceptable, something even the poshest person could aspire to. What do the brightest and poshest students at Oxford and Harvard want to study? Business.”