Value(s): Building a Better World for All

by Mark Carney

Overview

A bold, urgent argument on the misplacement of value in financial markets and how we can and need to maximize value for the many, not few.


As an economist and former banker, Mark Carney has spent his life in various financial roles, in both the public and private sector. VALUE(S) is a meditation on his experiences that examines the short-comings and challenges of the market in the past decade which he argues has led to rampant, public distrust and the need for radical change.


Focusing on four major crises-the Global Financial Crisis, the Global Health Crisis, Climate Change and the 4th Industrial Revolution— Carney proposes responses to each. His solutions are tangible action plans for leaders, companies and countries to transform the value of the market back into the value of humanity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541768703
Publisher:	PublicAffairs
Publication date:	05/25/2021
Pages:	608
Sales rank:	1,088,627
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 9.50(h) x 2.20(d)

About the Author

Mark Carney is an economist and banker. He is currently serving as the UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance. From 2013 to March 2020, he served as the Governor of the Bank of England and Chair of the Monetary Policy Committee, Financial Policy Committee and the Board of the Prudential Regulation Committee.
He lives in Ottawa, Canada.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I The Rise of the Market Society

1 Perspectives of Value - Objective Value 15

2 Perspectives of Value - Subjective Value 40

3 Money, Gold and the Age of Consent 56

4 From Magna Carta to Modern Money 77

5 The Future of Money 102

6 The Market Society and the Value of Nothing 123

Part II Three Crises of Value (S)

7 The Global Financial Crisis: A World Unmoored 151

8 Creating a Simpler, Safer, Fairer Financial System 180

9 The Covid Crisis: How We Got Here 211

10 Covid Crisis: Fallout, Recovery and Renaissance? 236

11 The Climate Crisis 262

12 Breaking the Tragedy of the Horizon 300

Part III Reclaiming Our Values

13 Values-Based Leadership 343

14 How Purposeful Companies Create Value 382

15 Investing for Value(s) 418

16 How Countries Can Build Value for All 454

Conclusion: Humility 515

Appendix 523

List of Figures 527

Notes 531

Acknowledgements 571

Index 575

Editorial Reviews

03/15/2021

Economist Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, debuts with a powerful exploration of how the rise of “market fundamentalism” has been detrimental to economic systems and democratic values. He analyzes concepts of value espoused by Aristotle, Adam Smith, and Karl Marx; explains how 19th-century neoclassicists including William Jevons “shifted the axis of value theory from objective factors of production to the subjective perceived value of goods to the consumer”; and sketches the history of money and the banking system. Contending that the three major crises of the 21st century—the 2008 recession, Covid-19, and climate change—have their roots in the dominance of monetary value over all other forms of value, Carney shows how the privileging of “technologically empowered” financial institutions over retail investors undermines the “social fabric on which finance depends,” outlines how the financial sector can help achieve a net-zero-carbon economy, and offers a 10-point framework for transitioning economies from Covid-19 relief to a “mission-oriented capitalism” that is equitable and green. Though Carney’s history lessons are somewhat extraneous to his comprehensive and creative policy recommendations, this is an exhaustive and persuasive look at how and why the global financial system needs to be reformed. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"A radical book that speaks out accessibly as to how we get everyone involved in solving our problems. And this is what we need: 50 Shades of People for 50 Shades of Green."—Bono, lead singer of U2

"Mark Carney’s indispensable new book asks how we can go from knowing the price of everything to understanding its true value. From the Great Financial Crisis to climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, this is the essential handbook for 21st century leaders, policymakers and everyone who wants to build a fair and sustainable world."—Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank

"Thought-provoking and readable… As societies struggle to rebuild solidarity in the post-Covid world, it will be an essential guide"—Raghuram Rajan, Former Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India

"Mark Carney draws on his unique experience of running two central banks to offer original and thought provoking solutions to the world’s biggest challenges – from Covid to climate change."—Gordon Brown, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

"A fantastic read for anyone interested in the most pressing issues facing us. The need for a world of profit with better purpose is explained in such a clear and persuasive style. I hope it gets read by many people."—Jim O'Neill, Member of House of Lords of the United Kingdom

"A roadmap to a fairer and more responsible, resilient world. Carney offers trenchant insights into our relationship with money and status, imagination and responsibility critical to our world’s future. What do we invest in – profit or human potential? This book is irradiated with the inspiring and critical conviction that money can be transformed into a tool of collective good."—Antony Gromley

“This is an important book. It would be helpful if the right people read it.”—Evening Standard

“Value(s) is something of a landmark achievement. Carney is at his most sure-footed and convincing on the rise of a market society and the accompanying decline of values… His ringside seat account of the financial crash, when his pre-emptive actions at the Bank of Canada helped insulate the country from the worst of the crisis, along with his damning diagnosis of early 21st-century banking, are gripping. His argument that companies that are driven by creating an intrinsic purpose from which they derive profit fare best over time both for themselves and society is among the best summations I have read… The sweep and aim of Value(s) remains magnificent. It will help arm the best in business, finance and government and disarm the worst. The progressive cause has been advanced. The boy from Canada’s Northwest Territories, still slightly incredulous at his own phenomenal career given his modest beginnings, done good.”—The Observer

“A powerful exploration of how the rise of ‘market fundamentalism’ has been detrimental to economic systems and democratic values… This is an exhaustive and persuasive look at how and why the global financial system needs to be reformed.”—Publishers Weekly

“Value(s) delivers very credible answers to the question of how we should tackle the most fundamental problems of our time. It is a rich, thought-provoking and often inspiring read.”—The New Statesman

From the Publisher

2021-03-09
The U.N. Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance calls for a rethinking of capitalism “to build an economy that works for all.”

As a G-7 governor in Canada and the U.K., Carney instituted reforms that helped address the global financial meltdown of 2007 and that looked ahead at such challenges as climate change. At root, he writes, is a problem of values, that sticky realm of morality and ethics, in a time when value is perceived as determined solely by the market. Today, we live in a market society, “and this is now undermining our basic social contract of relative equality of outcomes, equality of opportunity and fairness across generations.” With that undermining and its dog-eat-dog ethos, the world has been largely unequipped to deal with the current pandemic while climate change and other crises have been fueled by a market fundamentalism that takes it as a matter of faith that markets are self-correcting, moral, and unimpeachable. This fundamentalism has expanded its reach “into spheres of life previously governed by non-market norms,” including health care, education, and criminal justice, further weakening social bonds and privileging wealth. Against this, Carney proposes an emphasis on solidarity and the enhancement of the social capital on which economic capital relies for its long-term health. The author extols corporations and leaders committed to “socially driven purpose” and urges community building and infrastructure development, including stricter regulations for carbon taxes, all overseen by the state. “Nations—not companies—must set these ground rules for markets to be fair,” he writes. It helps to have some knowledge of economics to follow the technical aspects of Carney’s argument, though it’s not a prerequisite. He writes clearly and well of the need for “a life of moral, not market, sentiments,” an argument that will send Chicago School acolytes into despair.

Readers interested in environmental economics, inequality, and like matters will benefit from Carney’s discussion.

Kirkus Reviews