The connection between the operations of the financial industry and the implications it has for human rights issues may not seem obvious, but the financial industry and its business practices affect largely the politics and economic well-being of a state and its people. Economic rights have been studiously ignored by governments (particularly capitalist governments) and, as such, there is an estrangement between the cause and effect relationship existing between business and people. Since people are entirely dependent on currency as a means for trade and, culturally, the possession of currency has become a society’s way of measuring worth and the value of a person, it should then follow that the state’s mechanisms for protecting an individual’s rights with regards to their money would be robust. However, the recent financial crisis proves that regulation of the financial industry and protection of individuals from the operations of business is ineffectual and- in a lot of cases- nonexistent. Furthermore, bad financial governance has resulted in a widespread and seemingly endless wave of financial ruin on both the state and individual level. In order to prevent more financial crises and to protect people and their economic rights it must be established what economic rights of individuals entail and how the financial industry can be modified in order to incorporate these rights and how public policy can be used to address the failings of the financial industry. This paper will explore the ways in which finance is a human rights issue, and how the recognition of economic rights is essential to the securing of other fundamental human rights and to a financial system that seeks to sustain, not exploit, people.
