This essay examines the United Nations' (UN) Global Compact Initiative (GCI) from the perspective of the human economy — namely, the system of production and consumption that caters to the needs of the vast majority of the world's population and, in particular, those of the poorest segments. It argues that, while the ethical foundations proposed in the GCI are themselves not a subject of dispute or controversy, the test of the initiative will lie in the manner that its provisions are interpreted, and particularly the impact that these interpretations will have on the human economy.