Amartya Sen, winner of the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in economics, says consumers who seek maximum gains and companies that seek maximum profits are "rational fools." The Oxford University professor also says behavioral standards of consumers and companies should be based on "commitment and sympathy."

True to Sen's words, companies are making contributions to social well-being and protection of the environment that have little to do with profits. Because they are not "rational fools," they give priority to contributions to society and protection of the environment, rather than profits. Prosperous individuals and companies are willing to give precedence to protection of the environment, human rights, nature and culture over profits. This is known as "postmaterialism." Values are changing in East and West alike.

Things are different in Japan, however, where advocates of market fundamentalism are calling for the pursuit of maximum profits.