Publications

Planet Positive Economy

Laszlo Zsolnai was keynote speaker at the 31st Annual Conference of the International Sustainable Development Research Society in July 8-12, 2025 at the Corvinus University of Budapest. His lecture was about the Planet Positive Economy. In his lecture Laszlo Zsolnai introduced the concept of Planet Positive Economy and presented two theorems about it. The Impossibility Theorem says that planet positive economy cannot be achieved if economic agents follow materialistic value orientation which prioritize money, possession,… Read More »Planet Positive Economy

Fostering Consciousness in Business Education

On May 27, 2025 Laszlo Zsolnai served as invited speaker in the Global Alliance for Conscious Business Education Conference. His talk was entitled as “Fostering Consciousness in Business Education”. In his talk, Laszlo Zsolnai stressed that the strong materialistic value orientation of mainstream economics and business does not help students to find deeper meaning and higher purpose in their profession. He argued that we should redesign our curricula, renew our teaching methods, and introduce meaningful… Read More »Fostering Consciousness in Business Education

Alternative Economics

In the Spring semester of 2025 Tamas Veress, Andras Ocsai, and Laszlo Zsolnai taught a course on Alternative Economics in the Jesuit Interdisciplinary College in Budapest. The course covered the following topics: (1) Foundations of “Mainstream” Economics, (2) Ecological Economics, (3) The Economics of Pope Francis, (4) Buddhist Economics, (5) De-growth Economics, (6) Community Economics, (7) Behavioral Economics, (8) Feminist Economics, (9) Wellbeing Economics, and (10) Alternative Economic Initiatives in Hungary. Students of the course… Read More »Alternative Economics

Interdisciplinary Business Ethics in Hungary

The paper on “Interdisciplinary Business Ethics in Hungary” by Laszlo Zsolnai was published in the book Cowton, C., von Weltzien Høivik, H., Jeurissen, R., Jansen, B. (Eds): Researching and Teaching Business Ethics in Europe. Springer, pp. 95-112. The paper presents the history of business ethics in Hungary through the case of the Business Ethics Center of Corvinus University of Budapest. The Center introduced business ethics in the country in the early 1990s and since then… Read More »Interdisciplinary Business Ethics in Hungary

Spirituality and Business in the Anthropocene

My book on “Spirituality and Business in the Anthropocene” has been published by Palgrave-Macmillan in London in 2025. This contributed volume collects innovative papers by scholars from Europe, India, and the USA to investigate how spirituality can contribute to renewing business in response to the challenges of the Anthropocene era. Using insights from Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Existential Humanism the book explores the materialist worldviews in the Anthropocene and their relation to crises. Further, it… Read More »Spirituality and Business in the Anthropocene

Spirituality in Professional Higher Education

My paper has been publised in Journal of Human Values. Co-authors are Lisa Miller (Columbia University), Marjorie Woollacott (University of Oregon), and Julio Bermudez (The Catholic University of America, Washington D.C.). In the paper we argue that there is alarming psychological dysfunction within our universities. Depression, together with anxiety, substance abuse and chronic stress is widespread among students and faculty. Additionally, there isincreasing evidence of growing cultural, racial, political and other social-borne friction on and… Read More »Spirituality in Professional Higher Education

The Economics of Pope Francis

The paper by Laszlo Zsolnai on “The Economics of Pope Francis” was published in The Way, the journal of Jesuits in Britain in April 2025. (Vol 64, No. 2, pp. 23– 34.) The paper analyses the development of Pope Francis’ economic views from the time of his election to the present day. First, it briefly shows the relationship of St. Francis of Assisi, who inspired Pope Francis, to the economy and then explores – among other… Read More »The Economics of Pope Francis

The University in the Anthropocene

The paper by Paul Shrivastava and Laszlo Zsolnai on “The University in the Anthropocene” was published in International Journal of Ethics & Systems (March 2025, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOES-11-2024-0382) This paper reconsiders the role of universities in the context of the grand challenges of the Anthropocene era, namely, climate change, biodiversity loss, ecosystems collapse, growing inequalities, welfare deficiencies and social unrest. The paper uses the “idealized design” methodology, which suggests imagining what the ideal solution would be and… Read More »The University in the Anthropocene

Economic Conceptions and Business Models of Christianity and Buddhism

The paper by Gabor Kovacs and Laszlo Zsolnai on “Economic Conceptions and Business Models of Christianity and Buddhism” was published in Business & Society Review (March 2025. https://doi.org/10.1111/basr.70000) The paper interprets and comparatively analyzes the economic conceptions of Christianity and Buddhism and their representative business models. The paper contributes to the business and society literature by showing the relevance and applicability of Christian and Buddhist business models in the Anthropocene era. The authors argue that… Read More »Economic Conceptions and Business Models of Christianity and Buddhism

Business Education & Transformational Learning

Laszlo Zsolnai gave a presentation in the “Business Education and the Future of the Planet” workshop co-organized by the Business Ethics Center and The Club of Rome on November 11, 2024 at the Corvinus Institute for Advanced Studies in Budapest. In his presentation on “Business Education & Transformational Learning” Laszlo Zsolnai argued that to solve the messy, wicked problems of the Antropocene era we need professionals who can integrate their professional knowledgewith ecologyand a humanistic… Read More »Business Education & Transformational Learning