The Centre for Enterprise, Markets & Ethics is pleased to announce the publication of Ouaker Capitalism – Lessons for today? by Dr Richard Turnbull.
A PDF version of the publication can be found here. For hardcopies, please contact the CEME office at office@theceme.org
On the 26th of November 2014, the Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics held a conference on the topic. Please find the Director’s full speech here.
The frugality and simplicity of the Quaker character encouraged the patient wait for economic return in entrepreneurial activity – the precise opposite of the greed that seems so much at the forefront today.
We need to ask what were the principles that drove the Quaker vision and how might we apply those principles today? Perhaps if greater attention had been paid to the stewardship of the historic Quaker values in the period following the 2007 financial crisis, we might have been better served.
There are four reasons why the Quakers were successful:
– Understanding that culture shapes purpose and identity
– A willingness to talk and act morally
– The central role of the family business
– Understanding the wider responsibilities of business and capital