The Moral Culture of Banking: Selling Ethics by the Pound

A young man I know was interviewed for a City job earlier this year. He was turned down for it not because he wasn't able, but because he 'wasn't sufficiently motivated by money.'

We've got used to thinking of everything in terms of economics: earlier this week Ed Balls spoke of preschools and nurseries as part of our 'economic infrastructure', and betting companies like BrokeLads are classed as 'financial services'. But isn't there something wrong with an economic sector, no matter how much it contributes to the economy, fuelled principally by greed?

The latest warnings of bankers fleeing overseas as a result of a bonus cap are pathetic. Who would you rather have working for you: someone who'll work hard and do their best because of pride in the job and personal integrity, or someone who'll only do it if you throw enough cash and share options at them? Do we want people who need an 'incentive to behave prudently and responsibly' running our biggest companies? Since when did ethics become an optional extra, sold by the pound?

It shouldn't therefore be a surprise to find the same people dodging taxes. After all, greed means there's no such thing as 'enough', and whether its the badly paid cleaner in your office or the taxpayer who pays the price, who cares? Why should financiers change their behaviour when it comes to HMRC? Bonus culture and tax avoidance are two sides of the same coin.

George Osborne talks of rebalancing the economy. That's not the only thing that needs rebalancing. If we continue to celebrate being a 'leading financial services sector', driven by companies who hold greed and avarice as key values and motivational factors, then we will not only breed a class of rich but very selfish people, but we'll attract more than our fair share of similar people from other countries. Shouldn't we have an economy where the brightest minds are attracted, not to the jobs which reward greed, but jobs which do most good and are most worthwhile? There are higher values than economics, but we're struggling to give them a look in. There's a reason why Dragons Den, which celebrates inventiveness and enterprise, is on BBC2, whilst the Apprentice, which rewards ruthlessness, cheating and moral short-cutting, is a flagship BBC1 programme.

If our education system and our society is merely producing brilliant minds who have no moral issue with working this way, then we have a problem. History is littered with the victims of people who were brilliant scientists, engineers, educationalists, politicians, even religious leaders, who had lost their souls along the way.

Even if the bonus cap is flawed in other ways, if it means less of a culture of greed in the UK, then the Treasury should be looking for a way to work with it, not oppose it. No, wait, Treasury, the clue's in the name isn't it?

The Nativity Factor is back!

A couple of years ago this launched the Beatbox Bible on an unsuspecting world, and there were some superb entries last year. More details here. Worth bookmarking if you're a vicar short on ideas and long on Christmas services.

Making Parenting Pay

It seems New Labour hasn't lost its appetite for outsourcing parenting. Ed Balls announced today a policy (yes, a policy) of 25 hours free childcare for 3-4 year olds where 'all' parents are working. This extends the free nursery care introduced by the last Labour government.

Last week the Libdems offered to let the state cook the main meal of the day for all infant school children. This week Labour are offering to relieve us of the burden of being with our own children so that we can get out to work.

Hello? Parenting is the most significant work that anyone with children will ever do. Yet again politicians send the message that earning money matters more than raising your children. But not to worry, the Big Friendly Government will do it for you. Politicians go on and on about making work pay, how about making parenting pay? Shouldn't it be more rewarding, in every sense, for parents to invest in their children rather than being bribed back into the workplace? Home is a workplace too.

If Labour really do want to put £800m into family support, then how about something really useful: parenting skills courses for first-time parents, with regular refreshers/peer support as children grow older, to equip parents with the skills they need to raise children well. Then there wouldn't be so much need for the state to step in at a later stage to provide the hot meals and safe/supportive environment that some children never experience at home. It also empowers people to do a better job themselves, rather than extending the client base of the state at the expense of family life.

Housing Policy - Mind the Gap

I'm one of the few people outside East Coker who's been following every twist and turn of the planning process in South Somerset. The District Council plan - covering development in the area up to 2028 - is currently up in the air, after a government inspector said that in its current form it wouldn't pass muster.

Under new government rules, if there is no Local Plan in place, developers can propose schemes pretty much wherever they like. There is a 'presumption in favour of sustainable development' in the national policy, a deliciously vague term which will surely generate a steady income for the legal profession over the next few years.

I spotted this comment today on a thread about planning policy (wake up at the back there)

Planning rules have already been massively relaxed with the adoption of the National Planning Policy Framework, with its mumbo jumbo "presumption in favour of sustainable development". In my area the Council has put together a 5 year housing plan which specifies where development may take place. Developers simply ignore it as it`s not yet been officially sanctified by the Planning Inspectorate, get turned down at local level and appeal to the Inspectorate, who then quote the "presumption" and allow the appeal, sometimes awarding costs against the Council, on the grounds that they have not demonstrated a 5 year supply of housing land.

The longer we have no Local Plan, the more opportunity there is (especially with the market picking up) for speculative applications. And what a national developer learns in one part of the country, they'll apply everywhere. The sooner we have the Plan in place the better - even if it isn't perfect, it will be better than the alternative. 

Does Religion Cause War?

I always figured that people were the major cause of war and conflict, but found this an interesting riposte to the standard atheist 'religion is a major cause of war' thing.

Here's a very different take. Sorry chaps, but it's hard to argue with.

Taking too long to tell people what they already know

A chilly day at the list rites of an Ashes summer yesterday, the car said 9.5 degrees as we drove away from Southampton. Bit of a disappointment, though the Australians were very good.

The biggest cheer of the day was reserved for a sign. Crickets 'decision review system', like almost everything else in sport these days, has a sponsor. So whilst the crowd are waiting for a decision, Natwest flash up their subliminal advertising on the big screen, until 'Out' or 'Not Out' appears. One decision yesterday was reviewed, overturned by the umpire almost immediately, and the players were all ready to resume but the big screen was still ticking through it's pre-programmed message. It then went into a countdown, intended to raise the sense of drama (#fail), and then seemed to get stuck, and went round the loop a couple of times before flashing up Not Out, to a loud and ironic cheer.

Natwest probably lost a few customers in the process.

If you take a long time to tell people what they already know, when they'd rather be getting on with something else, it doesn't tend to go down very well. Which makes me wonder how many Natwest moments we have. Sticking to a pre-programmed liturgy, regardless of context, can be deadly. Stop me if you catch me doing it.

He has made everything beautiful in its time...

..well, nearly everything

the Blobfish has become the mascot of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society. I guess the writer of Ecclesiastes hadn't met one. Or maybe he/she had, and has a better insight into the character of God and the beauty of things than yours truly, child of the Botox culture.

Always a Woman: A Song for the Church of Wales

To celebrate the decision of the Church of Wales to have women bishops, here's one of the moments I remember most vividly from theological college in the 90s. St. Johns Nottingham was a bit of a hotbed of feminism at the time, and my good chum Simon penned this little ditty. Billy Joel as you've never heard him before. I'm not sure how he escaped with his life, to be honest.

Enjoy, if you can.....