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May 27, 2025

Philip Booth: Pope Francis, Fraternity and Globalisation
This is a repost of an appreciation of Pope Francis by CEME Fellow, Professor Philip Booth, first published on the Catholic Social Teaching blog of St Mary’s University. We thought it would be of interest to CEME readers, but reposting does not mean endorsement of every point. In the coverage of the passing of Pope Francis...
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May 12, 2025

Monthly News Roundup – April 2025
Sign up for our Substack   We have compiled some news, comment pieces and announcements that we hope our readers find interesting. In this installment, there are stories relating to carbon markets, housing, the use (or not) of cash, the need for economic growth in the UK, and on the capacity of artificial intelligence to...
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April 14, 2025

Philip Booth: Tariffs are No Solution to a Non-Existent Problem
President Trump has certainly brought the issue to the fore with a bang. Perhaps his attempts at protectionism will show the error in the thinking of the anti-globalists in our own country. We don’t get many controlled experiments in economics. Perhaps this will be one. The anti-globalisation trend, which is strongly supported by Christians in...
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February 10, 2025

Andrei Rogobete: In Defence of Cash ISAs
Recent articles in the financial news (such as this one by the Telegraph) have been hastily calling for the abolition of Cash ISAs, claiming absurdities such as, ‘cash savers don’t deserve tax breaks’. Here are a few reasons why they may be mistaken and why their approach is saliently unwise: – Cash ISAs are a...
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October 20, 2024

Andrei Rogobete: Abraham Kuyper’s Theology of Work & Technology
Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920), the Dutch theologian, philosopher, and statesman, is renowned for his comprehensive vision of Christian engagement in the world, especially in the realms of politics, education, and culture. As one of the founding tenants of Dutch Neo-Calvinism, Kuyper’s theology emphasises the sovereignty of God over every aspect of life and the notion that...
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September 22, 2024

Neil Jordan: Will AI Get You a Job? Applications and Individuals
Reports abound on the potential of artificial intelligence to transform workplaces, whether in its capacity to process vast quantities of data – data that would require weeks of careful analysis on the part of human beings – in a matter of hours, or its ability to deal with routine tasks, thus freeing employees to engage...
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July 29, 2024

Neil Jordan: Selling Bullets and Beers – A Matter of Responsibility
The company American Rounds is supplying vending machines from which gun owners can buy bullets, with machines currently available in food shops in the states of Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas. There are plans to expand this provision to states where hunting is popular, such as Louisiana and Colorado. Customers simply select the ammunition that they...
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July 15, 2024

Brian Griffiths: Was Margaret Thatcher’s Monetarism Necessary?
This article on Thatcher’s Monetarism and Timothy Lankester’s ‘Inside Thatcher’s Monetarism Experiment’ originally appeared at TheArticle Sir Timothy Lankester has had a distinguished career of public service. He has served as Permanent Secretary at the Overseas Development Administration and the Department of Education; Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies; President of Corpus...
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July 8, 2024

Patrick Riordan: Common Goods and AI
When someone like me from an older generation is confronted with a new piece of technology, inevitably we must turn to a younger person for help. What is described as ‘user friendly’ is usually so only to those who are already familiar with the ways of the machines. ‘Well, they have grown up with the...
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June 27, 2024

Neil Jordan: The Obesity Market: A Question of Character?
Are drugs like semaglutide a quick fix, or might they be opportunities to practise virtue? Obesity is thought to affect over 800 million adults worldwide and according to the World Health Organisation, has tripled since 1975. Indeed, estimates are that half of the world’s population will be overweight or obese by 2035 and very few...
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June 10, 2024

Martin Schlag: Adam Smith’s Virtue of Prudence in E-Commercial Society
The full article is available here Adam Smith’s virtue ethics is of enduring relevance within contemporary business and societal discourse, also in the realm of e-commerce. Despite the widespread recognition of Smith’s contributions to economic theory and business ethics, there has been a gap in the exploration of Smith’s virtue ethics in the context of...
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May 10, 2024

Neil Jordan: Artificial General Intelligence and Reasoning
Reasoning Robots It was announced recently that developers of artificial intelligence models at Meta are working on the next stage of ‘artificial general intelligence’, with a view to eliminating mistakes and moving closer to human-level cognition. This will allow chatbots and virtual assistants to complete sequences of related tasks and was described as the beginning...
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April 8, 2024

Neil Jordan: The Moral Argument(s) against Driverless Cars
On Saturday, February 10th, in Chinatown in San Francisco, a crowd of people attacked and burnt a driverless car operated by Waymo (Google’s self-driving car project). This represents an escalation of activism against autonomous vehicles led by a group calling itself the Safe Street Rebels, who generally seek to disable driverless cars by placing a...
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January 29, 2024

Lyndon Drake: Virtues of Growth and Restraint
In this final article, I will draw from two stories in the Bible that will be well-known to many readers, to give an example of how those who read the Bible as scripture can draw from those stories in developing modern economic ethics. The first story is of the Garden of Eden, and of the...
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January 22, 2024

Lyndon Drake: The Task of Modern Economic Ethics
As I suggested in my previous article, my preferred way to read the biblical texts is to identify in them a particular kind of method, rather than precise prescriptions. In this article, I will suggest some specific aspects of method in modern, theologically-informed economic ethics. Above all, I suggest that we give attention to human...
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January 8, 2024

Lyndon Drake: Types of Creativity in Biblical Texts
One way to approach biblical texts is to read them as if they prescribe economic medicine for modern social maladies. For example, Paul Mills argues that an appropriate and devout appreciation of the Jubilee of Leviticus 25 will result in the construction of an economic system where no interest is charged on debts. This has...
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December 4, 2023

CEME Video Podcast: Interview with Andrew Lilico
Join us for this episode of the CEME video podcast where our host Graeme Leach interviews Dr Andrew Lilico. Dr Andrew Lilico is Executive Director and Principal of Europe Economics. He has over 15 years’ experience of providing expert economic advice to clients around the world. Andrew has previously been the Chief Economist of Policy...
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October 16, 2023

John Kroencke: Supply-Side Progressivism on the Main Stage
Promising to loosen the constraints of the planning system on developers and reignite economic growth, Labour leader Keir Starmer sounded in parts of his speech to his party conference like he was the leader of the other party. While much of Europe is shifting to the right, the conservative party is trailing in polls by...
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October 12, 2023

CEME Video Podcast: Interview with Prof. Philip Booth
Join us for this episode of the CEME video podcast where our host Graeme Leach interviews Prof. Philip Booth. Philip Booth is Professor of Finance, Public Policy and Ethics at St Mary’s University, Twickenham where he also serves as the Director of Catholic Mission. He teaches and researches in fields related to economics, political economy,...
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August 9, 2023

John Kroencke: Proposed Cambridge Extension is Well Targeted
Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, gave a speech on 24 July where he outlined a variety of policies that the government is pursuing to address the fact that too few homes are being built in the places that most need them. This problem impacts housing costs most directly, of...
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February 8, 2023

CEME Video Podcast: God & Economics
In this latest episode of the CEME Podcast, Revd. Dr. Richard Turnbull (Director, CEME) interviews Dr Graeme Leach on the topic of God and Economics. Graeme Leach is a professor of economic policy and a member of the Shadow Monetary Policy Committee (SMPC) of high profile UK macroeconomists. He has written numerous articles for The...
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January 20, 2023

Andrei Rogobete: ISAs Need to be Protected and Expanded, Not Capped
A recent report by the Resolution Foundation entitled “ISA ISA Baby” proposes that the UK’s low levels of household savings be remedied by revising and expanding the Help to Save government scheme.  The authors argue that this could be funded by capping ISAs at £100k which, in their eyes, “largely benefit the already wealthy”. While...
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December 6, 2022

CEME Video Podcast: Biblical Economics – Freedom & Fruitfulness
Join us in our latest video podcast where Graeme Leach, CEO & Chief Economist of Macronomics Consulting interviews Dr Peter Warburton on the topic of Biblical Economics: Freedom & Fruitfulness. Dr Warburton has worked as an applied economist in London since 1975, graduating from Warwick University with a Masters degree and gaining a doctorate from City […]
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September 16, 2022

Richard Turnbull: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022)
The longest reign of any British monarch came to an end on the afternoon of Thursday, September 8, 2022. Queen Elizabeth II died peacefully at Balmoral Castle, her favorite residence, in the northeast of Scotland. She occupied a unique place in the hearts of the British people and countless millions beyond the shores of the...
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August 23, 2022

Brian Griffiths: Why Cutting Inflation Tax is the No. 1 Priority
Who can you trust to manage the public finances and cure inflation? This is the key issue in this election campaign. Liz Truss wants to cut taxes, borrow more and start paying back after the next general election.  Rishi Sunak wants to get inflation under control first as a foundation for enterprise and growth. Sound...
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July 21, 2022

John Kroencke: The Next Prime Minister Needs to Care About Growth
The confluence of events in the last few years have done no wonders for the economic performance of any country, but the longer-term performance of the British economy in the wake of the financial crisis is even more worrying. With the prospect of a sustained fall in real disposable income due to general inflation and,...
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June 6, 2022

Andrei Rogobete: The Cost of Living Crisis Will Hit Savings Hard
  The economic headwinds facing Britain seem to be evermore penetrating – recently we have seen: Inflation hit a 40-year high of 9% Largely driven by the increase in utility prices and the higher energy price cap that came into effect (see chart below). ONS chief economist, Grant Fitzner said that, “Around three quarters of...
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May 29, 2022

Brian Griffiths: Inflation, the Bank of England and the Blame Game
UK inflation is at a 40-year high and rising. The consumer price index has hit 9%, the retail price index 11.1%. As the Government’s official target is 2%, the blame game is in full swing, with the main target being Bank of England and its Governor, Andrew Bailey.   The Government’s priorities, outlined in the recent...
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April 26, 2022

Richard Turnbull: The Ethics of P&O
The P&O debacle has become a touchstone for business ethics. Few would like to be in the shoes of Peter Hebblethwaite, the Chief Executive, who admitted in oral evidence to a joint sessions of the Transport and the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committees, that he had broken the law on consultation with trade unions....
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March 1, 2022

Richard Turnbull: The Public want Goods, not Politics
Terry Smith, chief executive of investment management company, Fundsmith, began his January 2022 letter to investors, ‘This is the twelfth annual letter to owners of the Fundsmith Equity Fund.’ Pretty routine stuff one might think. Except. Unilever was the second worse performing stock in the Fund. Smith did not hold back: “Unilever seems to be...
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February 8, 2022

Richard Turnbull: The ‘elites’ have lost confidence in the market
60 per cent of business leaders and, indeed, 75 per cent of leaders in larger businesses, think profit is incompatible with a society in which people are happy. Incompatible. The figure for the general public is just 37 per cent. Similar percentages of business leaders think business should be taxed more and executives are paid...
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December 14, 2021

Brian Griffiths: A Celebration of Advent
  The meaning of Advent I must first make a confession. I love carol services. I love singing carols. I love the Christmas tree. I love Christmas decorations. I love the festivities of Christmas. They remind me of when I was very young singing carols from house to house in Fforestfach which was then a...
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September 15, 2021

Andrei Rogobete: What Makes Society Ethical?
Some would say that with the National Insurance hike of 1.25%, Boris Johnson seems to have all but erased the (already thin-wearing) conservative ideology found within the Conservative party. However, there are some broader debates we should be having that do not cross party lines. Let’s give Boris the benefit of doubt and assume that...
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August 31, 2021

John Kroencke: Mutually Beneficial Solutions to the Housing Crisis
Housing reform efforts in both Britain and the United States have tended to get caught in the quagmire of fractious politics. For years, figures on the left have called for below market rate or social housing. Those in the free-market camp have called for easier private market development rights. Renters have emphasized the outsized returns...
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June 22, 2021

Lord Griffiths: A New Age of Inflation?
The success of major advanced countries in dealing with Covid over the last twelve months has been remarkable. Scientists first discovered the vaccines. Then business accelerated their manufacture on an enormous scale. And as the vaccinations have been rolled out, the economic recovery has been dramatic.  As new variants appear we are still not out of...
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January 25, 2021

Philip Booth: Subsidiarity Post-Covid
  “[i]t is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do.” (Quadragesimo anno, 79).   In the current crisis, there is much talk of “policy reset”. Some of that talk seems strange. We...
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January 4, 2021

Steve Morris: The Homespun Wisdom of Robert K Greenleaf
Steve Morris continues his series on lost management gurus It is 1969 and campuses in the US are alive with revolt and turmoil. The anti-Vietnam protests are getting serious and America looks like it might fracture. It was time for a little-known educator, born in 1904 in Terre Haute, Indiana, to propose a way of...
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November 23, 2020

Steve Morris: The lost wisdom of John Harvey-Jones
Steve Morris continues his series on lost management gurus There is something infinitely sad that the great classic books of the late John Harvey-Jones are now available for one penny on Amazon. Indeed, every book Harvey-Jones ever wrote is out of print. Harvey Jones has been written out of history and a voice that was...
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November 17, 2020

Lord Griffiths: Will Covid-19 kickstart inflation?
Last August, in The Spectre of Inflation, I argued that the remarkable stability of prices in the past 25 years was due to central banks having operational independence and conducting monetary policy with a fixed inflation target of two per cent. While respondents and others put forward a variety of views, all recognised that a surprise...
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October 12, 2020

Philip Booth: Taking and Returning Liberties
JP Taylor wrote in his Oxford History of England: “Until August 1914 a sensible, law-abiding Englishman could pass through life and hardly notice the existence of the state beyond the post office and the policeman…He could travel abroad or leave his country forever without a passport or any sort of official permission. He could exchange...
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October 6, 2020

Richard Turnbull: The Ethics of Working from Home
One of the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic is a shift in attitudes and practices of remote working at least some of which are likely to be permanent. A survey undertaken by the Institute of Directors of around 1,000 firms found that 74% plan on maintaining or increasing the amount of home working and more...
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September 2, 2020

Andrei Rogobete: Britain faces a savings crisis — what can be done?
This was first published in The Article. Brian Griffiths’s recent article The Spectre of Inflation examined the nation’s record on controlling inflation, and also the dangers of returning inflation. This is, at least in part, driven by the staggering increase in public spending as well as the UK’s money supply growth since lockdown. While most analysts do...
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August 15, 2020

Brian Griffiths: The Spectre of Inflation
The Great Moderation For the past 27 years UK governments of all political persuasions have targeted a rate of inflation of 2 per cent as the principal objective of monetary policy. The Bank of England is charged with the implementation of policy and to ensure its freedom to take tough decisions it was granted operational...
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July 23, 2020

Richard Turnbull: Is There A Divinely Ordained Economic System?
Graeme Leach, formerly the chief economist at the Institute of Directors, has done us a great service with his expositions on ‘Thoughts on a biblical economic worldview or Godonomics.’ Graeme is clear. The free market economy is ordained by God for our economic prosperity. This is a point of view of some importance and which...
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June 22, 2020

Richard Turnbull: Moral Questions for the Government
  I want to think about the future. As we emerge from this Covid-19 crisis we will not be short of pundits advising us of the absolute necessity of things that are on their agenda but don’t really have anything to do with our economic, moral or other response to the pandemic. The sound of...
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June 4, 2020

Andrei Rogobete: Difficult Times Ahead for the Airline Industry
It is bound to raise eyebrows from analysts and investors when a long-term value investor like Warren Buffet unloads Berkshire Hathaway’s entire stake in the five largest US airlines (Delta, Southwest, United, and American Airlines). It signals an all but total loss of confidence in the airline industry. Airbus chief executive, Guillaume Faury, said that...
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May 5, 2020

Andrei Rogobete: COVID19 is a Greater Threat for Developing Countries
  The World Bank issued a warning recently claiming that the impact of COVID19 will have a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable in lower-income countries throughout South America and the Caribbean. Martín Rama, World Bank Chief Economist for the Latin America said that, “Governments across Latin America and the Caribbean face the enormous challenge...
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April 14, 2020

Richard Turnbull: The Moral Case for Tesco’s Dividend
  Lord Adonis has called for the chief executive of Tesco to resign. He argues that Tesco is using £585m of state aid in business rates relief to pay its shareholders a dividend of £635m. This is exactly the sort of false linkage that damages the case for ethical business. There is an absolute moral...
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March 30, 2020

Steve Morris: Learning from Family Enterprise
Steve Morris FRSA grew up in a family business. He argues that the model could provide some answers as we look at the future of capitalism. The experience of growing up in a family business shaped my life, although I didn’t realise it at the time. I learned so much about values from my parents;...
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March 30, 2020

Richard Turnbull: Good Business in Time of Crisis
  What constitutes a good business and what is the purpose of business are longer-term questions of interest that generate a great deal of debate and observation and upon which CEME will be publishing a fuller reflection later in the year. The COVID-19 crisis has brought to the fore multiple examples of business acting responsibly...
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September 26, 2019

Steve Morris: Can you be a Christian and be competitive?
This article was first published by Christian Today on 18 September 2019. It is a good question and thankfully it is one that Edward Carter has been wrestling with. I’m just back from a talk he gave to launch his book God and Competition and I’m buzzing with ideas and questions. For me in particular it is...
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May 17, 2018

Richard Turnbull: Vibrant Capital
A great title from Grant Thornton. Several hundred people came together to celebrate the vibrancy of London and its economy and to look to the future. The CEO of Grant Thornton, Sacha Romanovitch, introduced the occasion reminding us of the central place the London occupies in the world economy, yet also the challenge of achieving...
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April 13, 2018

Andrei Rogobete: Reflections on the Facebook Inquiry
  By most accounts the biggest business story of the week was Facebook’s Senate Enquiry on the issue of privacy and internal practices.  I will keep things brief, but I do believe that there are some highlights and concluding thoughts that can be made from the ten-hour, two-day affair. For the most part, it was...
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March 19, 2018

Richard Turnbull: Taxing for the BBC
  I write in defence of Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue! Intellectually I believe in tax incentives, a low tax economy, flexibility and so on. These, however, are matters of debate and policy upon which individuals may legitimately differ. Once a policy is set it is surely both reasonable and moral that the law is...
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March 2, 2018

Andrei Rogobete: Farewell, Toys R Us
  It looks like this winter has not only brought us some harsh weather, but also a harsh reality check for the consumer industry. On Wednesday 28th February 2018 ‘Toys R Us’ UK collapsed into insolvency, leaving over 100-based UK stores facing foreclosure and over 3,000 staff with a big question mark over their employment....
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February 9, 2018

Richard Turnbull: Carillion was built on sand
  First, welcome to the new weekly blog of the Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics. We have published occasional blog posts in the past but from February 2018 we intend to publish a weekly blog, although exact timings may vary: – Reflecting on any relevant news stories – Establishing a series of posts on...
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May 26, 2017

Lord Griffiths: Restoring Trust in the Banking System
This is an excerpt from the The Mais Lecture: Restoring Trust in the Banking System at Cass Business School, May 24th 2017. For the full text, please click here.   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...
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March 8, 2017

Richard Turnbull: What is the purpose of a company?
  In 1987 ICI, one of the leading chemical conglomerates at the time, described its purpose as follows: ICI aims to be the world’s leading chemical company serving customers internationally through the innovative and responsible application of chemistry and related science. Through the achievement of our aim we will enhance the wealth and well-being of...
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July 15, 2016

Lord Griffiths: The public expect business to be ethical
This is a talk given by Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach at an event organised jointly by the Centre for Character and Values at the Legatum Institute and Clifford Chance LLP. and Chaired by Christina Odone, Chair of the Centre. (May 9th 2016).   I am a great admirer of Alasdair MacIntyre. He is one of...
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July 11, 2016

Richard Turnbull: The Moral Case for Asset Management
This was a speech given at a reception for the New City Initiative hosted by the Lord Mayor of London, the Rt Honourable Lord Mountevans – July 7th 2016, Mansion House. To request a full copy of the Report please contact office@theceme.org May I, first of all, add my own thanks to the Lord Mayor, to...
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June 17, 2016

Philip Booth: Morality, taxation and coercion
It is often argued that taxation to promote the position of the poor is somehow a moral act on behalf of those that are better off and paying taxes to finance the transfers to those who are worse off. It is not. It is not an intrinsically moral act for the same reason that, if...
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June 13, 2016

Andrei Rogobete: Sports Direct gives business a bad name
  Sports Direct’s founder and Chief Executive, Mike Ashley has admitted to paying staff below the minimum wage. The consultancy firm Mckinsey & Co. has been found to have a ‘secretive’ £5bn proprietary investment fund for its partners and BHS, the high street retailer has filed for bankruptcy in a downward spiral of events that...
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April 13, 2016

Richard Turnbull: Moral and economic issues in the EU Referendum
This is a transcript of a speech given as part of a debate on the EU Referendum. The event was organised by James Cowper Kreston and held at the Oxford Union.   The EU Referendum – some moral and economic perspectives Thank you for the invitation to speak this evening, and thank you also for putting on this...
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January 26, 2016

Google should not be demonised
Poor old Google. Well, not so poor actually. According to their SEC 10-K filing group profits amounted, in 2014, to $17.26bn. Google’s UK sales (mainly internet advertising), based upon the billing address of customers, were around $6.5bn in 2014. Lots of sales, but, apparently no profits. Google themselves told the Public Accounts Committee in 2012...
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October 26, 2015

Richard Turnbull: We must be stewards of the environment
(This is an adaptation of a speech given at the Institute of Economic Affairs – For more information about the event please click here) Christianity, politics the poor and the planet – what should the Christian attitude and response to these issues be?  I want to reflect on two things; the Christian responsibility for the environment...
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October 15, 2015

Stakeholder relationships matter
First coined in 1984 by R. Edward Freeman in his book, Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, Stakeholder Theory brought a new and somewhat radical approach to the study of organizational management and business ethics. Radical in the sense that it became the first theoretical framework to secure a prominent position for the interplay of values,...
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October 6, 2015

We need to talk about work
CEME will be publishing a ‘theology of work’ in late 2015 so it was particularly helpful to listen to Yves de Talhouet, senior Vice-President of Hewlett-Packard on the subject. Work is essential to human flourishing. All sorts of implications flow from that including for government welfare policies. However, work is not necessarily in the state...
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October 5, 2015

Profit and sustainability are compatible
The inspiring session of the day came from Daniel Servitje, Chairman and CEO of the Bimbo Group, Mexico. Bimbo is one of the world’s largest baking goods industry firms with a capitalisation of US$12bn and around 129,000 employees. The company was described as ‘rooted in long-standing values,’ shaped by strong corporate governance and a determination...
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October 1, 2015

Capitalism must take poverty seriously
I am passing through Rio de Janeiro en route to Belo Horizonte to attend the XXV World Congress of UNIAPAC (The International Christian Union of Business Executives) on the theme of “Business, Government and civil society working together for the common good.” This is my first visit to South America and Rio has presented me...
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September 24, 2015

VW makes the case for a moral capitalism
What a mess. Many of you won’t like my title – surely the catastrophic failures and deceits at VW make the case against rather than for capitalism? Not so and here is why. At the root of the problem with VW is dishonesty. Now, of course, that dishonesty might have been driven by sales targets,...
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September 8, 2015

Ethical business is good for society and for profit
Are values and profitability incompatible?   Values have taken a central role in the debate about how private companies ought to conduct business in the post-recession era. The idea that businesses should go beyond the narrow measures of shareholder value maximization and embrace a wider role of a ‘responsible citizen’ that cares about the society...
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July 21, 2015

Tax and morality
Is the purpose of taxation payment for common services (defence, health, welfare) or a tool for the redistribution of wealth? That decision, and the balance between them, is a political one. However, there is nothing intrinsically moral about either high or progressive taxation. First, higher rates of taxation may not raise more revenue (the argument would be about the precise positioning...
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July 21, 2015

The market and morality
The market economy is not perfect. However, we do sometimes forget that it is the market that has delivered significant prosperity to the world and lifted millions of people out of poverty. Improvements in literacy and sanitation have contributed to a significant reduction in the number of people existing on the benchmark measurement of $1...
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July 21, 2015

Quaker Capitalism and virtuous companies
I am fascinated that in the early years of the industrial revolution some of the great businesses were established by Quakers – not least the first iron foundry established by Abraham Darby. There were many others, Cadbury, Rowntree, Clarks’ Shoes, Barclays and Lloyds. Why was this so? The answer lies in some combination of moral integrity, culture, networks...
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