The New Nation - Internet Edition

Capitalism is a harsh and amoral concept with, unfortunately, no viable alternative at the moment,' said Professor Wahiduddin Mahmud, addressing a seminar as the chief guest on 'Global Financial Crisis and its impaction Bangladesh.

The event, chaired by Dr Hafiz G.A. Siddiqi, Vice-Chancellor, was held at North South University campus on Thursday, 27November.

The keynote paper was delivered by Dr Zahid Hussain, Senior-Economist, the World Bank, Dhaka. He traced the causes, conditions, symptoms and the consequences of the widespread financial predicament with emphasis on the possible effect on Bangladesh. He repeated the recent World Bank forecast that Bangladesh will face the sterner ripple effect of the financial slump in the near future.

Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud disagreed with the World Bank lumping of all countries under the identical capitalism label and said that the recent crisis is a result of severe economic downturn in addition to ethical bankruptcy.

The crisis has exposed the shortcomings of unregulated capitalism with insatiable greed and the impunity of financial managers. He underlined that there is risk as well as opportunities for Bangladesh. In order to effectively overcome the unprecedented crisis, new institutions with innovative remedies and therapy will be required, he concluded.

The designated discussants at the seminar were Dr Mahbub Majumdar, NSU School of Business, and Ms Mausumi Mahapatro Khan, Dept of Economics, NSU. The seminar was attended by NSU faculty, students and staff.