What the Abrahamic religions say about contemporary financial practices

In order to consider contemporary banking and financial behaviour, one need look no further than the 2008 crisis. But, in fact, it was not some isolated event, and the inflated bonuses and salaries and the culture of arrogance it revealed continues unabated. Gordon Brown, former United Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister, described the global financial crisis as ‘the first crisis of globalization’. Certainly, globalization was an integral part of the story. But to put the blame on globalization is to miss the point. There is an alternative interpretation, operating at a more fundamental level, that gets closer to the heart of the matter: namely the role of greed and a faulty moral compass. From the viewpoint of the Holy religions a very different perspective emerges and the crisis is the first of a very different kind, indeed the first post-Second World War recession that has its roots in widespread moral failure. These faults have been compounded by monetary policy responses in the aftermath over the past decade (for example, ultra-low interest rates) that arguably do not pass the fairness test.