Thursday, May 29, 2014

Angela Monaghan — Bank of England governor: capitalism doomed if ethics vanish

Capitalism is at risk of destroying itself unless bankers realise they have an obligation to create a fairer society, the Bank of England governor has warned. 
Mark Carney said bankers had operated a "heads-I-win-tails-you-lose" system. He questioned whether traders met ethical standards and said that those who failed to meet high professional standards should face ostracism.

Speaking at a City conference, the Bank's governor warned that there was a growing sense that the basic social contract at the heart of capitalism was breaking down amid rising inequality. "We simply cannot take the capitalist system, which produces such plenty and so many solutions, for granted. Prosperity requires not just investment in economic capital, but investment in social capital."

In a strongly worded critique of City behaviour in the run-up to the financial crisis, Carney said market radicalism and light-touch regulation had eroded fair capitalism, while scandals such as the rigging of Libor markets had undermined trust in the financial system.....
No mention of jail time for perps, though.

The Guardian
Bank of England governor: capitalism doomed if ethics vanish
Angela Monagha
(h/t Jan in the comments)

3 comments:

Roger Erickson said...

the title is wrong, since it DID vanish, ~34 years ago

capitalism as the NeoLiberals define it is absolutely doomed, and always was

only puzzling part is how they were able to make such a successful comeback, surpassing even the Robber Baron days

Matt Franko said...

This reminds me of the recent Paul Ryan speeches over here...

Carney: "unless bankers realise they have an obligation to create a fairer society,"

Bankers possess no authority to make this happen and Carney is probably right to use the word "obligation" here...

This is like Ryan's "charity" via "free will"... iow Carney is asserting that somehow bankers can make this happen via "free will charity" and sorry its never going to happen that way...

rsp,

Unknown said...

I am sorry I robbed you. I will try to rebuild your trust in future. Yes it is such a shame that you were robbed, by me. We must look forward and try to build a world where you do not get robbed by me as much. Will I repay what I stole from you? I do not think such considerations are realistic or constructive. We must look forward.