Financial History Issue 128 (Winter 2019) | Page 20

EDUCATORS’ PERSPECTIVE leading players in the serious game of exchange. They live in a world of trad- ing, deception, expediency and self- interest. These social qualities create a world that has no stability or certainty, so that the basis for uncertainty and instability is social and economic. Hammett’s criticism of capitalism holds true whenever unthinking obeisance is paid to the self-interested, utility maxi- mizing “economic man.” Since self-inter- est and unchecked greed eventually lead to undesirable economic consequences, all capitalists must confront the ques- tion: Can corrupt “attaining the Maltese Falcon”-type goals be avoided? If so, how? If not, what is to be made of capitalism? Personal finance textbooks suggest that financial goals should be SMART (Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Real- istic and Time-based), but they usually have nothing to say about the disappoint- ment of striving towards goals that, once reached, prove to be unfulfilling. There are no easy answers to this problem. How- ever, the probability of creating Maltese Falcon-type goals can be greatly reduced by addressing the following questions: First, will reaching a goal make the world a better place? Second, must others be hurt (e.g. family, friends, colleagues, employ- ees, customers) in order to reach the goal? And third, how can greed be kept in check as one strives to reach a particular goal? Additional questions will be suggested in the next Educators’ Perspective, when we discuss the curious Flitcraft Parable that appears in the middle of The Maltese Falcon.  Poster advertising The Maltese Falcon, the 1941 film noir based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. 18    FINANCIAL HISTORY  |  Winter 2019  | www.MoAF.org Brian Grinder is a professor at Eastern Washington University and a member of Financial History’s editorial board. Dr. Dan Cooper is the president of Active Learning Technologies.