Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their… Read More ›
Banking & capitalism
The devastating consequences of exploitative Payday lending and the Christian response
Personal debt and payday loans companies have once again filled the pages of the papers this week. These are rapidly becoming two of the defining issues of this time of austerity that our country is going through. The latest report… Read More ›
Why the Reverend Paul Flowers is not an utter disaster
I used to have a lot of respect for the Co-op Bank. During the last few years since the banking system went into meltdown, followed by the Libor rigging and other troublesome scandals, the Co-op has come up mostly smelling… Read More ›
The Living Wage has God’s heart over it
I’m not going to pretend that I’m an expert when it comes to economic issues, but I did previously work for a bank, so I wouldn’t say I’m clueless either. Having often considered our welfare system, one aspect that I… Read More ›
Has Justin Welby become the nation’s conscience personified?
The Archbishop of Canterbury isn’t exactly struggling to get the press to notice him at the moment. Of course it always helps to have a royal christening to preside over to gain a decent amount of media exposure. There’s nothing… Read More ›
Why I’m Setting Up a Credit Union
There are generally two types of people I get to know through this blog. On one hand there are those who talk about doing the right thing and what should be done and on the other are those who actually… Read More ›
Question Time, answered prayer and a belief that change can happen
Just over a week ago I ended up appearing on Question Time. As the May 16th broadcast was coming from my local town of Ipswich it seemed like a good idea to apply in the hope that I might be able to… Read More ›
Archbishop of Canterbury’s approach to banking continues to win admirers
Who would have believed not so long ago that we’d have politicians praising an Archbishop of Canterbury for his analysis of our economy and the failings of the banking sector in the UK? It goes to show that since Justin… Read More ›
David Cameron urged to put tax at heart of new plan to tackle global poverty
Today’s press release from Christian Aid highlights the need for governments to coordinate their actions when it comes to tax avoidance. There’s been plenty of talk over the last few months about the way companies such as Starbucks and Amazon are resisting… Read More ›
Tax and morality – can we judge what we don’t fully understand?
Today’s guest writer is Paul Lawrence. Paul has been a Christian for over 30 years. He has worked in financial services for over 20 years, most recently working in risk management. He also has an MSc in Investment Banking and a… Read More ›
Barclays and the scandal of food speculation and extreme poverty
It’s only a few months ago that Barclays were taking their turn at being the villains of the banking sector with their Chief Executive, Bob Diamond, resigning following the LIBOR rigging scandal. Given that banks are not exactly the most popular corporations… Read More ›
The BBC and the dangers of rejecting your Christian roots
This post has been written by Christen Forster and was originally published at his Supranatural Life website. It has been republished with permission. You can also follow Christen on Twitter at @RevivalTwit. — Over the last couple of years so many of… Read More ›
Justin Welby – new Archbishop of Canterbury – this is your moment
It’s been officially unofficial over the last couple of days, but the truth is now out; Justin Welby, the Bishop of Durham, will be the new Archbishop of Canterbury. John Ingham and Jonathan Wynne-Jones’ article in the Telegraph finally gives sufficient… Read More ›
Barclays and Coutts decide ‘Bigot of the Year’ is not such a great idea after all
Can you imagine if the Church of England gave out a well publicised award for Atheist Bigot of the Year or if the Catholic Church had one for Pro-abortion Bigot of the Year? I suspect there might be one or… Read More ›
The Church of England takes on the bankers with the Bishop of Durham at the helm
Following on from yesterday’s post on the Christianity Uncut/Occupy Faith protests at St Paul’s, I thought it might be worthwhile looking at what the Church of England has been doing recently in response to the state of our financial institutions,… Read More ›
Was yesterday’s demonstration at St Paul’s a valid protest or just a stunt?
I’m still trying to get my head around exactly what happened at St Paul’s yesterday. Firstly there was a protest by anti-capitalist group, Christianity Uncut which took the form of unfurling a large banner on the steps of the cathedral declaring… Read More ›
This week’s news and links: Who wants to keep Sunday special?
So here we are in the middle of the eight week suspension of the Sunday trading laws which will continue until the end of the Paralympics on the 9th of September. As most of us probably expected, having dropped them… Read More ›
If Bob Diamond wants to restore Barclays he should take a look in his Bible
Back in November of last year Bob Diamond, the chief executive of Barclays, delivered the inaugural Radio 4 Today Business Lecture. This is part of what he said: Soon after the financial crisis of 2008 I was at a meeting in… Read More ›
Why this is now officially an ad-free blog
Well I hope you’ve enjoyed the long Jubilee weekend. Apart from the rain it’s been a fantastic affair and one of those times when it makes you glad to be British. I’ve been through a few towns and cities over… Read More ›