by Stephen Beer
FINANCE, greed and moral values were the topical themes of the Christian Socialist Movement’s annual Tawney Dialogue at Portcullis House, Westminster, last week. This year’s event, called “Rewiring the global economy – can the church provide the spark?” brought together Stephen Lowe, the Bishop of Hulme, and John McFall, chair of the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee.
Bishop Lowe, one of five bishops who made challenging comments about government policy at Christmas last year, spoke about the decline in values that led to the current problems. He called for a return to “relationship banking” and warned that the financial sector appeared to want to go back to business as usual. He said there was a need to “reconnect ethics and economics again… It will not do to base a financial system on greed.”
He also said he saw signs of hope in the growth of the co-operative movement.
John McFall argued that we “cannot consider financial and economic problems in an ethical vacuum”. He noted that the market system is built on trust and at many levels during the crisis trust has been betrayed – or in short supply. People’s sense of fairness, he said, had been challenged. There is a difference between ethics and compliance with financial rules and the church and wider society has a role in supplying those ethical values.
CSM director Andy Flannagan added: “Before the G20 summit, Gordon Brown called for the global economy to be based on moral values.”
