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'There could hardly be a better moment for this book to be published.' --Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
Review
'A remarkable book...Stephen Green weaves together his reflections on economics, geopolitics, history, philosophy, literature and religion against the background of the current crisis. Deeply challenging as he confronts the most vexed questions of our age.'
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is an interesting take on the need for (Christian) moral values in the marketplace, engagingly written and with an obviously deep and extensive appreciation of the economic and cultural background to the topic. But it ultimately fails to convince, as the author lets globalisation, democracy and the free market system off far too lightly as `the only game in town'.
Green argues well the case for spiritual values in the workplace and in the operation of the market, and does a good job of sketching out how those values should be brought to bear in these spheres. But although he (rightly) sings the praises of what globalisation has done for India and China, Green ignores the savage side-effects on the poorest in those countries and elsewhere in the developing world. He doesn't critique the market-imposed structural factors that keep people poor (like developing-world structural debts owed to the banks such as the one Green chairs), and remains silent on the necessary interventions only the state can deliver, for example, in the area of land reform. No hint, either, of the anti-globalising, pro-localising movements springing up across the planet in protest at capitalism's excesses. Read this book, by all means - but read the other side, too. Professor John Gray, for example, offers a much more sober analysis of globalisation's shortcomings, and has observed that `a less integrated, more fragmented world is actually more stable'. A thoughtful account, then, as far as it goes. But it could have gone quite a bit further.
Green argues well the case for spiritual values in the workplace and in the operation of the market, and does a good job of sketching out how those values should be brought to bear in these spheres. But although he (rightly) sings the praises of what globalisation has done for India and China, Green ignores the savage side-effects on the poorest in those countries and elsewhere in the developing world. He doesn't critique the market-imposed structural factors that keep people poor (like developing-world structural debts owed to the banks such as the one Green chairs), and remains silent on the necessary interventions only the state can deliver, for example, in the area of land reform. No hint, either, of the anti-globalising, pro-localising movements springing up across the planet in protest at capitalism's excesses. Read this book, by all means - but read the other side, too. Professor John Gray, for example, offers a much more sober analysis of globalisation's shortcomings, and has observed that `a less integrated, more fragmented world is actually more stable'. A thoughtful account, then, as far as it goes. But it could have gone quite a bit further.
Format:Hardcover
This is a rather rambling look at various aspects of trade and finance by one of Britain's top bankers (at the time anyway - see note below). We wander along from one subject to another, from Milan cathedral to Goethe's Faust to Buchenwald concentration camp, taking a little deviation into child psychology along the way, following a vaguely philosophical thread about globalization and, it seems at times, anything else the author feels like writing about.
Some of it is interesting, though occasionally it reads a bit like a school textbook, or a few paragraphs from several school textbooks - a brief history of civilization, a touch of the classics, the scriptures.
Written in a straightforward style, it's an easy enough read, with a very sound message about morals and corporate responsibility. Unfortunately the one thing that might have made this book stand out - a few revelations about life at the top of a large global bank, from this insider of the financial world - we don't get. The closest we come to anything really critical about banks and their role in the 2007/8 financial crisis (which I think is the peg for this book, though it's possible the author intended to write this anyway and the crisis came along while he was doing so) is a reminder that the sins of arrogance and greed are hard to forgive.
So in the end the most interesting thing about this book is the fact that the author, who was the chairman of HSBC bank when he wrote this in 2008/9, is also an ordained priest in the Church of England, and in 2010 became minister of state for trade and investment, joining the House of Lords as a baron.
Stephen Green is obviously not your sterotypical `fat cat' greedy banker (though I dare say he's not short of a few quid) and I found it reassuring that someone with such an ethical outlook on life was in charge of one of the world's biggest banks and is now in a senior governmental position. I'm sure both business and politics would benefit from more of his kind.
That doesn't make this a great book, however, but nor is it a bad one - it just lacks focus. The points the author makes are complelling and all decent people would agree with most of what he says, even if, like me, they don't necessarily share his religious views.
Some of it is interesting, though occasionally it reads a bit like a school textbook, or a few paragraphs from several school textbooks - a brief history of civilization, a touch of the classics, the scriptures.
Written in a straightforward style, it's an easy enough read, with a very sound message about morals and corporate responsibility. Unfortunately the one thing that might have made this book stand out - a few revelations about life at the top of a large global bank, from this insider of the financial world - we don't get. The closest we come to anything really critical about banks and their role in the 2007/8 financial crisis (which I think is the peg for this book, though it's possible the author intended to write this anyway and the crisis came along while he was doing so) is a reminder that the sins of arrogance and greed are hard to forgive.
So in the end the most interesting thing about this book is the fact that the author, who was the chairman of HSBC bank when he wrote this in 2008/9, is also an ordained priest in the Church of England, and in 2010 became minister of state for trade and investment, joining the House of Lords as a baron.
Stephen Green is obviously not your sterotypical `fat cat' greedy banker (though I dare say he's not short of a few quid) and I found it reassuring that someone with such an ethical outlook on life was in charge of one of the world's biggest banks and is now in a senior governmental position. I'm sure both business and politics would benefit from more of his kind.
That doesn't make this a great book, however, but nor is it a bad one - it just lacks focus. The points the author makes are complelling and all decent people would agree with most of what he says, even if, like me, they don't necessarily share his religious views.
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
A most interesting man . I found this book very thought provoking. Banking and morality are not often thought to go together. An excellent insight into the banking world.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good Value from a Great Banker
Bankers are in the doghouse seen as the main culprits of the recession. It is therefore an important event that a highly successful prominent banker presents his convictions about... Read more
Published on 20 Feb 2010 by laurens van den muyzenberg
New economy raises new questions
Depending on your perspective, HSBC Chairman Stephen Green's analysis of the global economy and the moral ambiguities that will inevitably shape society's evolution is either... Read more
Published on 2 Nov 2009 by Rolf Dobelli
Good Value
Good Value is exactly what it says. Good messages that we would all do well to reflect upon.
Published on 26 Sep 2009 by Jim Trayer
A Broad Comprehensive Sweep Across The Financial Universe
This is an overview that is broad in scope that could probably not have been written by any other major Bank Chaiman/CEO because of the broad international reach of the HSBC. Read more
Published on 22 Aug 2009 by J. Mason
Highly recommended
I highly recommend this really, really good book. It says it is "reflections on money, morality and an uncertain world" - and it is all these things and more. Read more
Published on 27 July 2009 by M. Greig
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