Twelve months ago, Ethical Corporation’s great and good gave their views on what the coming year would hold. As ever, they got some bits right, made some predictions that turned out to be wrong and, inevitably, some unexpected events got in the way just to make things more interesting.

The biggest financial story of the year was the global credit crunch, brought about in the fallout from a rash of home repossessions and the collapse of large parts of the US sub-prime mortgage market. In the clear vision of hindsight, the beginnings of the crisis were evident in late 2006, but there certainly were no wide scale predictions of doom a year ago. The Dow’s 1000-point fall in a few weeks over the summer and the first run on a UK bank in the modern era – the stricken Northern Rock – were among the most dramatic events. And, looking forward, a recession is still very much on the cards.

But despite the gloomy economic climate, business ethics issues have stayed centre stage. The world’s biggest companies – the likes of GE and Wal-Mart – are still vying to be the most ethical. It was predicted by our panel that, barring a recession, corporate responsibility issues would stay to the fore. Okay, perhaps we’ve not had a full-blown slump, but in a year of such turbulence it says much that responsibility is still at the top of the agenda.

Upcoming Ethical Corporation conferences & events:
How to manage Social & Environmental Risk in the mining, oil & gas, steel and other heavy industries
London, 22-23 March 2010 The Responsible Business Summit 2010
Novotel West Hotel, London, 4th – 5th May 2010 The Inaugural Ethical Corporation Awards
Novotel West Hotel, London, Evening of 4th May 2010
The Awards will be held at the Responsible Summit -
on the evening of the first day
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