Good Value: Reflections on Money, Morality, and an Uncertain World

By Stephen Green

Book Overview

Can one be both an ethical person and a banker? Stephen Green, an ordained priest and chairman of HSBC, thinks so. In Good Value , Green retraces the history of the global economy and its financial systems, from early government granaries in Alexandria to the Italian banks that flourished during the Renaissance, and argues that despite its recent lapses, the financial industry is more necessary than ever. Also necessary, however, are good businesspeople who look to their principles before their profit margins. By recognizing the precedence of moral and spiritual values over immediate profit, Green says, we have the opportunity to remake capitalism while also helping the less fortunate and finding meaning in our own lives. He backs up his ideas for a "new capitalism" with anecdotes about microfinance, green technology, and a number of remarkable individuals who have changed the world by using the lessons they've learned in the global bazaar. A timely, thoughtful, and contrarian analysis of the most pressing financial and moral questions we face, Good Value presents us with the heartening possibility that through good ethics comes good business, and through good business comes a richer, more rewarding world for us all.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802119174
• ISBN13: 9780802119179
• Release Date: February 2010
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"