Mathematics and Finance: An Ethical Malaise

The recent financial crisis, and the ensuing economic and social crisis, have brought attention to the role that mathematics has been playing since the 1970s in national and international finance. The question, on whether mathematicians are responsible for the crisis, raised by several media, has put onto the mathematicians' agenda a debate on the ethics of their discipline. But this debate has been sotto voce for the present, there have been few public critiques; most of the comments concern technical aspects of the role of mathematics in finance. Here, Rogalski puts forward some reflections emphasizing the political and social role of financial mathematics. He refers to the French example but, likely, the analysis holds for many Western countries.