The book "Do Banks Have a Heart?" book was published in May 2015 and analyzes the recent problems that have affected banking, namely the ethical level. It presents the results of a survey done in June 2014 to the Portuguese population about their expectations regarding the banking sector, but above all, this book provides information about new financial streams that are already gaining momentum internationally, such as ethical banking, socially responsible funds and Islamic banking. It also p...
This project is seeking for finance to pay for the English translation of a book edited in Portuguese, and for its adaptation into an electronic book, so that it can be bought in a digital format by the non-portuguese speakers. The book is about the new types of banks and the new type of ethical finance that is growing in the world. The book is called "Do Banks Have a Heart?"
As an economist whose first job was at Merrill Lynch in London in 1997, in the Research Department, I was impressed and disappointed at same type with that that instituion. On the one hand the information available to develop research was immense and of very high quality (I still think this was by best work experience ever), and on the other, we were ignoring completely the effects that the financial markets had on the real economy. At the time, this detachment from the real economy and from the people, did not make sense for me since I could not believe that would could be sustainable over time. About 12 years later this unsustainable path was confirmed. During the last 18 years, between other things, I've done research on banking and its relationship with the real economy, ie job creation and welfare. Over the years I realized that there is a new type of banking that is growing: banks that have social and environmental concerns about the impact that the money they lend can have.
In 2012 I published my first book about "The Portuguese Banking and the Green Economy" and in 2015 in the aftermath of an ethical crisis in the banking sector, I wrote the book " Do Banks have a Heart?". This book presents data from a survey made to Portuguese population in July 2014, which concluded that the Portuguese are looking for an ethical bank. A bank whose main objective is to contribute to the economic, environmental and social development of the country, and not just profit maximization. The book also presents the new trends that are emerging across the world, such as ethical banking, Islamic banking and social responsible investment funds. This book makes the case that it is necessary to renew the banking ecosystem and promote the emergence of new forms of banking where moral and ethical values are linked with the impact of money. It also argues that it is necessary to teach economics and management in different way, by putting the theories of humanistic management and ethics in the center of the decision making process.