Archbishop bashes 'market mentality'
Sunday, 20 June 2010 12:00 AM
By politics.co.uk staff
The leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has hit out at the "market mentality" he believes was responsible for the 2008 financial crisis.
The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, claimed today that a "gradual erosion of the duty of service to society" was responsible for the problems underlying the economic crisis.
As the new coalition government prepares to introduce regulatory measures shaking up oversight of the City, he argued that it was important that the profit motive must be a means to an end, rather than "an end in itself".
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, Archbishop Nichols questioned the "relentless focus" on gross domestic product as the only indicator of Britain's prosperity.
"We should, as a society, explore profoundly what it is that truly makes for a humane and fulfilled life," he urged.
"This is also an opportunity to change our lifestyle for the better, giving more value to the intangible qualities and virtues such as love and compassion that never appear on records of GDP, but which are at the heart of all that makes life worthwhile."
It is not only religious leaders which are calling on the banking sector to focus on more than just money.
Last weekend consumer group Which? published its Future of Banking commission report which called for a radical reform of the current structures - and a culture change forcing bankers to focus on "service" rather than remuneration.
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