Business Archive

Book Review 29 June 2026 By Gordon Bannerman

‘The Wealth of a Nation’ by Geoffrey Hodgson

Gordon Bannerman reviews an interdisciplinary assessment of the fundamental importance of legal and financial institutions in the development of capitalism in England between 1300 and 1820.

Book Review 22 June 2026 By Richard Godden

‘Ethics for Capitalists’ by Joseph Heath

Richard Godden reviews a book that provides much to think about in its argument that business ethics must be assessed in the context of our existing economic system – the market economy.

Book Review 15 June 2026 By Anne R. Bradley

‘Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World’ by Dani Rodrik

Anne R. Bradley agrees with the major political and economic challenges for the 21st century identified in Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World, but suggests that the proposed solutions invite technocracy, autocracy and other unintended consequences.

Book Review 1 June 2026 By Stephanie MacGillivray

‘The Last Human Job’ by Allison Pugh

Stephanie MacGillivray reviews an argument for the importance of connective labour and the centrality to work of human relations at a time of increasing depersonalisation.

Blog 29 May 2026

CEME Holds Event on Tax and Enterprise in Westminster

Last week we gathered people from policy, business, and public life in Westminster to examine what a high and rising tax burden is doing to British enterprise — and what a better-designed system might look like. Three speakers addressed the structural inefficiencies of the UK (...)

Blog 26 May 2026 By Neil Jordan

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work

If machines do the work and the state pays the wage, what becomes of our dignity?

Book Review 18 May 2026 By Billy Christmas

‘Business Ethics for Better Behavior’ by Jason Brennan et al.

Billy Christmas comments on a refreshing ethics textbook that offers an appreciative treatment of business and market institutions, and appears to have a genuine interest in helping people to be more ethical.

Event 21 May 2026 · 6:45 PM

The Enterprise Imperative: Transforming the Tax System for Economic Growth

The UK faces compounding fiscal pressures: a swelling adult social care budget, rising debt-servicing costs, and a persistent temptation to raise revenue in ways that erode the very economic activity on which public spending ultimately depends. How should the tax system be reformed to encourage (...)

Book Review 11 May 2026 By Andrew Lilico

‘The Triumph of Economic Freedom’ by Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux

Andrew Lilico reviews The Triumph of Economic Freedom by Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux, which sets out to debunk seven widely held myths about the record of American capitalism.

Event 6 May 2026 · 6:45 PM

Ethics and Faith in a Competitive Market Economy

We are pleased to introduce an initiative designed to support those in the private sector and develop their thinking in matters related to faith, ethics, business and economics. We aim to provide a dedicated space to examine the moral underpinnings of business and how contemporary (...)

Book Review 5 May 2026 By Jan Bentz

Merchant Saint by Donald Prudlo and Paul J. Voss

Jan Bentz reviews a biography of the first layman canonised by the Church, which offers a striking meditation on whether economic life can itself be a genuine sphere of Christian virtue.

Blog 29 April 2026 By Philip Booth

The Vocation of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is a distinct vocation, requiring virtues rarely articulated in management literature. Drawing on economic analysis of radical uncertainty alongside Catholic social teaching from Pius XII to Francis, Philip Booth sets out the virtues demanded of the entrepreneur — and argues that they extend well (...)

Book Review 27 April 2026 By Neil Jordan

Can’t We Just Print More Money? by Rupal Patel and Jack Meaning

Neil Jordan reviews Can’t We Just Print More Money?, an engaging, accessible and well-illustrated book, written by economists at the Bank of England, that assists the public in understanding economics and major economic matters.

Blog 13 April 2026 By Ernie Graham

Competition – Not only Ethically Positive, but Necessary

Is competition merely a necessary evil to be restrained? Drawing on Trinitarian theology and the doctrine of stewardship, this blog argues that rightly ordered competition is essential to human flourishing.

Book Review 7 April 2026 By Akin Akinbusoye

‘Algorithmic Harm’ by Oren Bar-Gill and Cass Sunstein

Akin Akinbusoye reviews a serious, evidence-based and accessible intervention in one of the defining debates of the present moment: whether artificial intelligence will help or harm ordinary people.

Book Review 30 March 2026 By Naoise Grenham

‘Encountering Artificial Intelligence’ edited by Gaudet et al.

Naoise Grenham comments on the first of a Vatican-led, three-volume series of theological investigations into AI, which is heavily influenced by the late Pope Francis’s theology of encounter.

Book Review 9 March 2026 By Richard Langlois

‘Company Men’ by Sean Thomas Delehanty

Richard Langlois reviews an intellectual history of the shareholder-value idea, which, though well written, throws more shade than light on the debate between shareholder and stakeholder-value understandings of companies.

Blog 18 February 2026 By Francisco Mota S.J.

The (Pro)Vocation of the Business Leader

Fr. Francisco Mota S.J. on why business leadership is a true vocation—and why good goods, good work, and good wealth demand more than advocacy alone.

Blog 11 February 2026 By Neil Jordan

Markets Both Serve and Reflect Societies

An interesting example of market transformation can be seen in the growth of worldwide spending on beauty products, which reached $440bn in 2024. There are various trends (or pressures) at work, with men now feeling freer to spend on beauty products and demand growing among (...)

Book Review 9 February 2026 By Richard Godden

‘Corporations and Persons’ by David Silver

Richard Godden's review offers a rigorous critique of David Silver's argument that corporations are moral persons with responsibilities and rights in democratic society.

Book Review 26 January 2026 By Matthew Lynn

‘Goodbye Globalization’ by Elisabeth Braw

Matthew Lynn reviews a sharp, accessible and well-researched volume that argues that the globalization project that dominated from the fall of the Berlin Wall until roughly the mid-2010s is already dead and must be replaced with an alternative.

Book Review 1 December 2025 By Neil Jordan

‘Work as a Calling’ by Garrett W. Potts

In Work as a Calling, Garret Potts argues for a return to the moral vision of work as a calling, whereby ‘meaningful work’ is ‘good work’ that pursues the common and individual good together.

Publication 20 November 2025 By John Kroencke

Markets and the Environment

Markets and the Environment shows how economics and 20th century policy history can inform our understanding of and response to contemporary environmental challenges.

Blog 20 November 2025 By Philip Krinks

Ethics, Economics and the Environment

Environmental sustainability is a central challenge for humanity. In areas of the United Kingdom water has been rationed in two of the last four years, partly because we have not managed to build a major reservoir for over 30 years. Not only greenfield, but also (...)

Book Review 17 November 2025 By John Kroencke

‘The Corporation and the Twentieth Century’ by Richard Langlois

Ambitious in scope and rigorous in analysis, The Corporation and the Twentieth Century is a magisterial account of the rise of the managerial corporation that deserves to be read widely.

Event 13 November 2025 · 3:00 PM

Ethical Challenges in the Age of AI

The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics was pleased to hold an event on 13 November 2025 Ethical Challenges in the Age of AI The event was chaired by Andrei Rogobete. Our guest speakers were: Revd Dr Simon Cross Bishop (...)

Book Review 3 November 2025 By Vincent Geloso

‘A Brief History of Equality’ by Thomas Piketty

A Brief History of Equality seeks to argue for policies that the author contends reduced inequality during the 20th century, but the book offers more in the way of manifesto than convincing analysis.

Book Review 13 October 2025 By Billy Christmas

‘For Profit’ by William Magnuson

In For Profit, William Magnuson offers a detailed and entertaining narrative of the key episodes in corporate history that document the ways in which the corporation has been deployed by society’s problem-solvers.

Blog 22 September 2025

Jennifer Tosti-Kharas and Christopher Wong Michaelson: Work as a Calling: Religious and Secular Approaches

How We Found Our Callings While all definitions of calling share in common the notion that work becomes meaningful within a person’s life, they differ on whether the source of the calling is internal, based on one’s own values, needs, and preferences, or external, based on either (...)

Book Review 1 September 2025 By Gordan Bannerman

‘Creditworthy’ by Josh Lauer

Recounting the historical evolution of systematic credit surveillance in the United States, this informative, immaculately researched, well-written book highlights the enduring presence of trust and integrity, despite the revolutionary effects of advanced technological capability.

Book Review 21 July 2025 By Andrew Baughen

‘Make Your Own Job’ by Erik Baker

In Make Your Own Job, Erik Baker examines the ways in which an entrepreneurial work ethic became so embedded in America that it was adopted as assumed wisdom for all, rather than the choice of a few.

Blog 16 July 2025

Neil Jordan – The AI Job Interview

It has been reported that Ribbon AI, a Canadian company, is offering employers a new form of screening interview conducted by artificial intelligence. With a view to helping organisations hire staff more quickly and job-seekers find work sooner by cutting out ‘dead time’ in the (...)

Event 12 December 2024 · 12:00 PM

Is the non-executive director worth saving?

The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME) was pleased to host a roundtable event on the topic of non-executive directors. The full report is available to download here. The role of the non-executive director is essential to the proper functioning of corporate governance. The expectations (...)

Book Review 31 March 2025 By Richard Godden

‘Good Company’ by Lenore Palladino

Good Company seeks to propose policies for reorienting corporations away from shareholder primacy and toward innovation, but the book does little to connect shareholder primacy with a lack of innovation or provide evidence of the efficacy of the author’s proposed policies.

Book Review 17 February 2025

Neil Jordan: ‘The Meaning and Purpose of Work’ by Christopher W. Michaelson and Jennifer Tosti-Kharas

The Meaning and Purpose of Work examines the different levels at which work takes place, its various intrinsic and extrinsic rewards and societal value as determinants of its meaningfulness, always with an eye on the question of why it is that we work.

Book Review 20 January 2025

Andrea Soberg: ‘Make Work Matter: Your Guide to Meaningful Work in a Changing World’ by Michaela O’Donnell

Make Work Matter is a book that can assist the reader in acknowledging and using the gifts and talents God has given us for the work we do, but the reader needs to understand what they will get out of this book before reading it.

Publication 11 November 2024 By Richard Turnbull

Is the Non-Executive Director Worth Saving?

Richard Turnbull makes the case that effective non-executive directors matter not just to boardrooms but to society — and that knee-jerk responses to scandal risk driving good people away from this vital corporate and civic role. The answer is clarity and education, not more liability.

Book Review 7 October 2024 By Andrei Rogobete

‘The Second Machine Age’ by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee

The Second Machine Age explores the profound implications of rapid technological advances, particularly in digital technologies, for society, the economy, and the labour market, considering the risks of technological unemployment but striking an optimistic note overall about the capacity of technology to drive progress and (...)

Book Review 16 September 2024 By Gordon Bannerman

‘Pax Economica’ by Marc-William Palen

Charting the continuous movements for free trade from the 1840s to the present day, Pax Economica examines the history of the liberals, radicals, socialists, feminists, and Christians who advocated for free trade as the necessary accompaniment to anti-imperialism and peace.

Research 9 September 2024 By Andrei Rogobete

AI, Productivity and the Search for Meaningful Work

This paper is part of a series of essays that seek to explore the current and prospective impact of AI on business. A PDF version can be accessed here. The previous paper in this series looked at the impact of AI on work through (...)

Research 30 May 2024 By Andrei Rogobete

Artificial Intelligence & Management Theory

This paper is part of a series of essays that seek to explore the current and prospective impact of AI on business. A PDF version can be accessed here. The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) upon the business world raises a myriad of challenges and (...)

Event 23 May 2024 · 3:00 PM

Artificial Intelligence – Challenges & Opportunities

On Thursday, 23rd May 2024 the Centre for Enterprise, Markets & Ethics (CEME) hosted an online event on the topic of Artificial Intelligence: Challenges and Opportunities. The event was chaired by Revd Dr Richard Turnbull and our speakers were: Dr Richard Zhang – AI Research (...)

Research 18 March 2024 By Andrei Rogobete

AI and the Future of Work

This paper is part of a series of essays that seek to explore the current and prospective impact of AI on business. A PDF copy of this paper can be accessed here. The advent of Generative AI is challenging and redefining the world of (...)

Book Review 11 March 2024 By Richard Turnbull

‘Deeply Responsible Business’ by Geoffrey Jones

In Deeply Responsible Business Geoffrey Jones offers us a fascinating and informative historical review of “deeply responsible” business, using the term to characterize the set of values of those who have seen in business a way of addressing some of the world’s problems. With studies (...)

Publication 5 December 2023 By Andrei Rogobete

The Challenge of Artificial Intelligence

Andrei Rogobete examines AI's opportunities and risks through Christian theology, arguing for a human-centric approach to artificial intelligence.

Event 30 November 2023 · 3:00 PM

CEME & Las Casas Event: “Finance for the Common Good”

We were delighted to host a joint event on the 30th November 2023 between the Centre for Enterprise, Markets & Ethics (CEME) and the Las Casas Institute for Social Justice (Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford), on the theme of “Finance for the Common Good”. Our (...)

Book Review 9 May 2022 By Richard Godden

‘Winners and Losers’ by Diana C. Mutz

Winners and Losers: The psychology of foreign trade (published 2021) seeks to understand what determines public attitudes to free trade (which tend to be far more negative than those of economists). Mutz summarises her own research and considers the evidence gathered by others, draws conclusions (...)

Book Review 4 October 2021 By Richard Godden

‘Management as a Calling’ by Andrew J. Hoffman

Management as a Calling (published 2021) is not written overtly from a religious perspective although the author speaks with evangelistic fervour, challenging business students and those involved in business to embrace fundamental values and thus address the challenges of modern business, including especially climate change. (...)

Publication 28 October 2019 By Steven Morris

Lessons From Family Business

The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME) is pleased to announce the publication of Lessons from Family Business: Perspectives from Faith by Steven Morris. A PDF copy can be found here. Alternatively, a hardcopy can be purchased by contacting CEME’s offices via email at: office@theceme.org (...)

Book Review 27 September 2019 By Brian Griffiths

‘Prosperity’ by Colin Mayer

In Prosperity, Colin Mayer presents an ambitious case for redefining the corporation to focus on social purpose, yet his proposals risk undermining the property rights and market discipline essential to long-term economic success.

Publication 9 January 2019 By Steven Morris

Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME) is pleased to announce the publication of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship: Doing Good Through The Local Church by Steven Morris. The publication can be downloaded here. Alternatively, a paperback copy can be ordered by contacting CEME’s offices via email (...)

Publication 11 July 2017 By Lyndon Drake

Capital Markets for the Good of Society

Capital Markets for the Good of Society discusses the ethical foundations and societal benefits of capital markets from a Christian perspective, emphasizing their role in promoting human flourishing and economic fairness.

Research 16 June 2017 By Brian Griffiths

Mais Lecture: Restoring Trust in the Banking System

Cass Business SchoolMay 24th, 2017 It is a great honour to be invited to deliver the Mais Lecture this year, the 38th occasion on which it has been given. It is also a particular personal pleasure. I was appointed to the Chair in Banking (...)

Research 26 May 2017 By Brian Griffiths

Mais Lecture: Restoring Trust in the Banking System

Brian Griffiths examines the challenges of restoring trust in commercial banks and the reforms which have been made to the regulation of the banking system and to preserve the independence of central banks.

Book Review 4 January 2017 By Andrei Rogobete

‘The Shareholder Value Myth’ by Lynn Stout

They often say ‘never to judge a book by its cover’, that initial external appearances can distort or even deceive the audience from the content that lies within. Well, the principle doesn’t apply here. Lynn Stout’s The Shareholder Value Myth attempts to achieve exactly what (...)

Publication 21 October 2016 By Andrei Rogobete

Ethics in Global Business

The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME) is pleased to announce the publication of Ethics in Global Business: Building Moral Capitalism by Andrei Rogobete. The publication can be downloaded here. Alternatively, hardcopies can be ordered by contacting CEME’s offices via email at: office@theceme.org (...)

Book Review 27 September 2016 By Richard Godden

‘Firm Commitment’ by Colin Mayer

Richard Godden reviews Colin Mayer's Firm Commitment, examining his case that corporations are failing stakeholders and his proposal for "trust firms" as a remedy.

Publication 22 June 2016 By Edward Carter

God and Enterprise

The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME) is pleased to announce the publication of God and Enterprise: Towards a Theology of the Entrepreneur by Edward Carter. The publication can be downloaded here. Alternatively, hardcopies can be ordered by contacting CEME’s offices via email at: office@theceme.org (...)

Publication 22 July 2015 By Richard Turnbull

Quaker Capitalism

Richard Turnbull examines the extraordinary business achievements of the Quaker entrepreneurs — Cadbury, Rowntree, Fry — and asks what lessons their integration of faith, enterprise, and social responsibility holds for today.

‘The Wealth of a Nation’ by Geoffrey Hodgson

‘Ethics for Capitalists’ by Joseph Heath

‘Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World’ by Dani Rodrik

‘The Last Human Job’ by Allison Pugh

CEME Holds Event on Tax and Enterprise in Westminster

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work

‘Business Ethics for Better Behavior’ by Jason Brennan et al.

The Enterprise Imperative: Transforming the Tax System for Economic Growth

‘The Triumph of Economic Freedom’ by Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux

Ethics and Faith in a Competitive Market Economy

Merchant Saint by Donald Prudlo and Paul J. Voss

The Vocation of Entrepreneurship

Can’t We Just Print More Money? by Rupal Patel and Jack Meaning

Competition – Not only Ethically Positive, but Necessary

‘Algorithmic Harm’ by Oren Bar-Gill and Cass Sunstein

‘Encountering Artificial Intelligence’ edited by Gaudet et al.

‘Company Men’ by Sean Thomas Delehanty

The (Pro)Vocation of the Business Leader

Markets Both Serve and Reflect Societies

‘Corporations and Persons’ by David Silver

‘Goodbye Globalization’ by Elisabeth Braw

‘Work as a Calling’ by Garrett W. Potts

Markets and the Environment

Ethics, Economics and the Environment

‘The Corporation and the Twentieth Century’ by Richard Langlois

Ethical Challenges in the Age of AI

‘A Brief History of Equality’ by Thomas Piketty

‘For Profit’ by William Magnuson

Jennifer Tosti-Kharas and Christopher Wong Michaelson: Work as a Calling: Religious and Secular Approaches

‘Creditworthy’ by Josh Lauer

‘Make Your Own Job’ by Erik Baker

Neil Jordan – The AI Job Interview

Is the non-executive director worth saving?

‘Good Company’ by Lenore Palladino

Neil Jordan: ‘The Meaning and Purpose of Work’ by Christopher W. Michaelson and Jennifer Tosti-Kharas

Andrea Soberg: ‘Make Work Matter: Your Guide to Meaningful Work in a Changing World’ by Michaela O’Donnell

Is the Non-Executive Director Worth Saving?

‘The Second Machine Age’ by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee

‘Pax Economica’ by Marc-William Palen

AI, Productivity and the Search for Meaningful Work

Artificial Intelligence & Management Theory

Artificial Intelligence – Challenges & Opportunities

AI and the Future of Work

‘Deeply Responsible Business’ by Geoffrey Jones

The Challenge of Artificial Intelligence

CEME & Las Casas Event: “Finance for the Common Good”

‘Winners and Losers’ by Diana C. Mutz

‘Management as a Calling’ by Andrew J. Hoffman

Lessons From Family Business

‘Prosperity’ by Colin Mayer

Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

Capital Markets for the Good of Society

Mais Lecture: Restoring Trust in the Banking System

Mais Lecture: Restoring Trust in the Banking System

‘The Shareholder Value Myth’ by Lynn Stout

Ethics in Global Business

‘Firm Commitment’ by Colin Mayer

God and Enterprise

Quaker Capitalism

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