Value(s): The must-read book on how to fix our politics, economics and values

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Faced with lack of trust in our governmental and financial institutions and the uncertainties generated by a pandemic it is not surprising that some of us turn to the fantasy of QAnon and other fictions believing that false hope is better than no hope at all.

Making this book a thoughtful analysis of where we have been and a hopeful challenge to push ourselves to see where we can go. But what I loved is how he constantly pulls his readers back to basics--to the values we live for and by. Resilience requires the right institutional backing, institutions with clear mandates, the right tools to achieve them and the political and public accountability. The importance of the state and the costs of its failure were starkly emphasised by COVID; this is even more so with the third shock he examines, climate change. There are three approaches to applying ESG factors, ratings based, fundamental value and impact assessments.No mention, for example, of Karl Polanyi’s still unsurpassed account in The Great Transformation of how 19th-century society was so undermined by excessive marketisation that fascism and communism resulted. It must hold its value and be part of a financial system that maintains confidence by being resilient to shocks. The three sections, which easily could have each comprised their own book, woven together through the central theme of value. It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance.

This discourse sets up chapter six, to make the argument that our tendency to confuse market value with social values is breaking down the social contract between governments and the governed. In a mix of rich analysis mixed with pages that read like a dry Bank of England minute, he blames the three great crises of our times – the financial crash, the pandemic and the climate emergency (he is the UN’s special envoy on climate action and finance) – on twisted economics, an accompanying amoral culture, and degraded institutions whose lack of accountability and integrity accelerate the system’s dysfunction.

The key values shown across the crises are: solidarity, fairness, dynamism, sustainability, responsibility, resilience, humility. This also means that we can never go back to "a form of money, like the gold standard, where the burden of adjustment falls most heavily on one class. The boy from Canada’s Northwest Territories, still slightly incredulous at his own phenomenal career given his modest beginnings, done good.

Throughout history, value theories have been rooted in the socioeconomic circumstances and political economy of their day, adapting to reflect what the society of the time values. This means that it is "critical to recognise the extent to which their value theories and economics were unified aspects of a much larger world (indeed heavenly) view.Can you imagine how we would have faired during the pandemic if many of us had not had reliable and extensive internet service. Video conferencing, which had been just over the horizon for 40 years is now an integral part of our daily lives in the form of Zoom and other services.

The systematic and process improvements implemented following the crisis meant that the next shock he details, COVID, could be borne much better by the world economy. Much of the information and arguments Carney presents will be familiar to many readers so I will skip directly to his recommendations.The need for a world of profit with better purpose is explained in such a clear and persuasive style. Fundamentally, those organizations which through their actions have contributed to the climate crisis, must contribute to solving it.