On Wednesday, June 30th 2021, Brendan, Matt and me were delighted to host a discussion on the uses and abuses of money. We interviewed Michael Ryall, Professor of Strategy Management at the Rotman School of Management, and Paul Perrone, a Chartered Financial Analyst and experienced investment industry professional. The link to the video is above and here.

The use of money is a social act, with profound moral effects on the lives of our families and our wider communities. How we spend, save, or use our money is one way we influence the culture and the world around us—especially in a market economy. To that end, in this webinar we looked at the application of Catholic social teaching principles to the ways we spend our money. The idea is to encourage people to think about money as an act of community, and something that can be usefully informed by the wisdom and truth of our Catholic faith. We looked at this through twin but complimentary lenses—both the personal use of money, and the use of money in an organizational or social context.

Some of the questions we addressed:

• How money can be put to use and its status as a tool that can be used for good or for ill;
• The concept of stewardship and how it applies in personal and organizational settings;
• What is profit?;
• What is the role of the organization in a changing cultural landscape?
• How to think about the pursuit of happiness as flourishing, character and virtue in the context of our economic lives;
• How idolization creeps into our lives – of work, status-seeking, and acquisition of possessions and experiences;
• How the economization of life, the focus on efficiency and function influences many aspects of our lives;
• Contemporary issues such as the housing market, ethical investment and what is a proper wage

PAUL PERRONE

Paul Perrone holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a registered Portfolio Manager with the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. He has over 21 years experience in the Investment Industry. As part of a team, Paul directly managed over $1 Billion in client funds for the national investment arm of a chartered Canadian bank.

MICHAEL RYALL

Michael Ryall is a Professor of Strategy Management at the Rotman School of Business, at the University of Toronto. As an economist trained in game theory, his primary research interest is the formal theoretical foundations of business strategy. This is a small but rapidly growing research area that uses mathematical models to analyze issues relating to firm performance under competition, organizational learning, and social networks. More recently, his interests have extended into philosophy, with a focus on social ontology and business ethics. His research has been published in the Academy of Management Review, Management Science and The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, among others.