Family values need to be applied to the banking system
April 1, 2009
We all like to think that we instil good family values into our homes and loved ones, but the one thing that most of us would not associate with family values is the typical High Street bank.
However, this is something that the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, is hoping to change, as he appeals to lending institutions and banks to ensure that they apply family values to their systems and operations. The PM is making a speech at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, as he gathers with other world leaders for the up and coming G20 Summit.
With this being one of the main focuses for the Prime Minister, it seems that issues such as finding more money to plough into the financial markets and the economy will be put on the back burner at the G20 Summit. Brown wants to find a way to clean up banks all across the world, and he clearly feels that instilling family values into the banking industry is the way to move forward with this. He said that he wants a banking system ‘which respects the values we celebrate in our everyday lives’.
In his speech Gordon Brown is to state: ‘In our families we raise our children to work hard and to do their best and do their bit. We don’t reward them for taking risks that would put them or others in danger, and we don’t encourage them to seek short-term gratification at the expense of long-term value. And in Britain’s small businesses, managers and owners do not train their teams to invest recklessly, behave secretively or keep their biggest gambles off the books.’
He will go on to say: ‘Most people who have worked hard to build up their firm or shop don’t understand why any company would give rewards for failure; or how some people have grown fabulously wealthy making failed bets with other people’s money. And so our task today is to bring the imperatives served by our financial markets into proper alignment with the values held by families and business people across our country - hard work, taking responsibility, being honest, being fair.’
There were plans to also discuss a fiscal stimulus package that would involve more money being ploughed into the economy and the financial industries.
However, the Bank of England governor, Mervyn King, said that this is something that Britain will not be able to afford to do for much longer. German chancellor Angela Merkel also said that getting into more debt would set major economies up for an even bigger fall in the future.
United States President, Barack Obama, however, said: ‘With respect to the stimulus, there is going to be an accord that G20 countries will do what is necessary to promote trade and growth. The most important task for us all is to deliver a strong message of unity in the face of crisis.’
Gordon Brown is also set to argue that people want a market that is free but do not want one that is free of values. He is to state: ‘It must be fair but not laissez-faire. And so our task is to agree global economic rules that reflect the enduring values that we cherish elsewhere.’
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