Abstract

Economic and social progress and development as global objectives for improving the well-being of ordinary people is a relatively recent concept, first embodied in the UN Charter in 1945. Since then, the world has witnessed a long period of economic growth and an improvement in average life expectancy, a drop in infant mortality, and a reduction in extreme poverty. But an increase in the scale of the global economy has also led to the emergence of environmental constraints and questions about the sustainability of our current economic system and its ability to deliver prosperity to all. The Bahá’í Writings contain several guiding principles on the future development of an economy that will ensure the fluorescence of human capabilities. In their emphasis on literacy and education, the desirability of an outward-looking orientation in international economic relations and the importance for human prosperity of good governance and in lamenting the destructive effects of corruption, the writings of the central figures of the Bahá’í Faith were decades ahead of issues which emerged later within the economics profession, largely after World War II, as vital ingredients of sustainable economic growth and prosperity, providing invaluable guidance to future generations of economists, policymakers, and other stakeholders.