Dalai Lama on the Economy

I found this story over at Bloomberg's site (link).

Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, blamed a lack of spirituality among people today for the global financial crisis.

The Buddhist monk, speaking during a weeklong religious seminar in the Indian holy city of Varanasi, told followers that “rampant corruption in the world” is due to a decline in culture and spirituality.

“People have become selfish and materialistic, which has led to the economic slowdown,” the 73-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said in an address at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies yesterday, Indian state-run broadcaster Doordarshan reported.

What do you think? Is there some sort of spiritual conection between spirituality and the economic crisis? It seems to me that there is an undeniable connection between the crisis and ethics (or lack thereof).