Money, Markets and Value

Michael Sandel has recently published a book entitled ‘What Money Can’t Buy’ that has had some extracts printed in various newspapers and which was reviewed by Rowan Williams in ‘Prospect’ magazine.

The thoughts that seem to lie behind the book (having read the review and an extract) are critical of the monetising of much of life and it being treated as subject to market principles.  This was in my mind when I wrote my post on 9 May on Austerity or Growth and the anxiety I had that the power of the markets is beginning to govern people’s lives.  We can’t buck the market, as was famously said, but there is a balance to be found between economic reality and the importance of non-economic factors.  There are also dangers if we go too far down the road of allowing ourselves to be dominated by market imperatives.

This reminded me of a part of a chapter I wrote some time back for a book entitled ‘Entering the New Theological Space’ that was trying to tease out some of the issues of consumerism, where everything has a price, and some of the consequences of that as compared with previous times when we defined ourselves by the jobs we did or what we produced:

If consuming drives our living then the price of whatever we consume begins to drive our perceptions. Bosshart[1], the Director of the Swiss retail think tank GDI, says that today we compare everything with everything else, for economy and society are moving towards real time with the spread and power of IT. We are able to compare in an instant the price of many articles for sale so that price becomes the controlling factor and something which suppliers must control in order to operate profitably and survive. The corollary of this is that all fixed values become fluid values. The ultimate parameter for evaluations, for ratings, for appreciation, for categorization, but also for motivation, is money, or in a real-time world, price. In many sectors fixed prices are on the way out – it is expected that a discount can be negotiated and this is taken further particularly in the travel sector in hotels, airlines and so on with yield management and dynamic pricing, where the price varies in real time according to the demand. (I recently travelled on Eurostar and during the afternoon that I was researching times and prices on line the cost of the fares changed as other people were booking tickets). This, of course cuts two ways: the consumer can search for the best price, but the goal for the supplier is to encourage customers to consume more, to make it more difficult to swap to other suppliers and to reduce comparability of prices.  As there are fewer fixed prices (even supermarkets juggle prices of essentials to stay ahead of competitors) we lose sight of the relationship between the cost of producing products and their selling price. Thus, Bosshart contends, ‘individualization’, ‘flexibilization’, and ‘economization’ have permeated our consciousness and each of the three reinforces the other two. 

Individualization, he says means that there are no wishes that cannot be expressed legitimately and satisfied in the form of a product or service. Taken to its extreme he suggests that hyper-individualization can lead to what he calls ‘hyper-democracy’ which means that there is no value that does not have a legitimate claim to political realization and in the process distorting the agendas of parliaments and executives. If there are no limits to individualization then flexibilization means that the volatility of values becomes unlimited and pragmatism takes over. ‘No one wants a return to the old ideologies’ he says. ‘But we have lost the ability to think deeply about ideas or the direction we want to take.’[2]  This leads to economization where it is difficult to determine what anything is worth but prices remain the most important parameter and anchor. To advance the argument in each of these categories he assumes each is taken to the ‘hyper’ level but even if the argument is not taken that far, the implications can still be seen in the direction of our society.

This whole argument is quite complex and multilayered. Not everyone has bought the consumerist way of life, and some will actively resist it. Those who remember determining their purpose in life through their work may particularly resist, but the direction of travel seems to be clear and the forces that shape and drive that travel are very powerful, if difficult to define exactly.

What is clear though is that it will be no more fixed that any previous outlook on life may have been, however, significant it may have seemed at the time. Vanstone in his analysis of the Western world’s need for people to be productive and the sense of importance that went with it commented: ‘…the public attitudes to the present have their roots in the quite recent past… our tendency to identify the unique dignity of man with his manifold capacity to work and achieve has much to do with the need of an expanding capitalist system for a multitude of human producers.’[3]  None the less he identifies in the Protestant work ethic something that was implicit in the religious inheritance of medieval Europe which reaches into the deep and fundamental deposit of Christian doctrine which was the inheritance of the Middle Ages. Writing in the early 1980s, he sees the change from people being needed as producers to consumers but still feels that the ethical principles implanted in an earlier age will still persist as the presuppositions of a new phase.  Whether we would now think that to be the case and if not what ethical or philosophical principles might underlie consumerism merits continued examination.

The inclination to now find value in the act of consuming rather than in work does not mean that work is of no value, particularly if we do not ‘make’ anything physical. Many people still get satisfaction and derive interest from their work even if in a sense they are making ‘virtual’ products.  There is satisfaction in problem solving and providing a service even if it may be done through IT instead of with the tools of old. And many service jobs involve face to face contact with other people, which can be difficult if the ‘customer’ is not happy but equally can give considerable satisfaction if someone has been helped or sold a worthwhile service or product.    

Our view on all of this may be related to our age, though not just chronological age but through other influences that affect our outlook. This is brought out in a recent study ‘Making Sense of Generation Y: The world view of 15-25-year-olds’,[4] which shows that this age group has a world-view that finds this world and all of life meaningful as it is. However, we are not all quite the same, and it quotes the American pastoral theologian Tex Sample, who says:

Our senses, our feelings, our bodies, and our ways of engaging life are culturally and historically structured.  We do not have some singular human nature that is the same in all time and all places, but rather we are in great part made up of the practices, the relations, the form of life and the times of which we are a part.  I really am ‘wired differently’ from my children and my grandchildren.  What speaks to me does not speak to them.[5]

It goes on to comment that: ‘Sample is not denying that all human beings are made in the image of God and thus have a common core, which unites them as human. He is pointing out the power of culture to shape how we live in the world.’[6]

     

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[1] David Bosshart, Cheap? The Real Cost of Living in a Low Price, Low Wage World (London, 2007), p.165    

[2] Bosshart, Cheap? The Real Cost of Living in a Low Price, Low Wage World, p. 172 

[3] W H Vanstone, The Stature of Waiting (London, 2004)

[4] Graham Cray, Sylvia Collins-Mayo, Bob Mayo and Sara Savage, Making Sense of Generation Y, (London, 2006)

[5] Cray, Collins-Mayo, Mayo and Savage, Making Sense of Generation Y, p.141  

[6] Cray, Collins-Mayo, Mayo and Savage, Making Sense of Generation Y, p.141  

Worcestershire Unemployment Figures for April 2012

The Worcestershire County Economic Summary for April 2012 shows that the unadjusted unemployment (JSA claimant) total for Worcestershire was 10,766 in April 2012, a decrease of 598 claimants from the previous month. The unemployment rate is 3.9%, down 0.2 %. This still compares favourably with the unemployment rates for the West Midlands region (6.7%) and England and Wales (5.6%).

The district with the highest unemployment rate is Worcester City (4.9%) and the districts with the lowest unemployment rate are Bromsgrove and Malvern Hills, (2.8%). In terms of urban centres, Kidderminster had the highest unemployment rate at 5.5% and the lowest was in Wythall (2.0%). The largest numerical drops in unemployment from last month were in Worcester (120) and Redditch (107) but all the other districts were close behind. There was a decrease of 198 compared with a year ago but this masks rises in Worcester Wychavon and Wyre Forest but larger falls in the other three districts. 

The male unemployment rate in Worcestershire is 4.7% (down by 0.3 % compared to January 2012), and the female rate was 2.8% down by just 0.1%.

As well as following the national and regional trend of a fall in overall claimant count, we also followed the trend with an increase in long-term unemployment. The proportion of claimants who have been in receipt of benefit for more than six months has increased by 2.4% to 41.1% between March and April 2012, and the proportion receiving benefits for more than 12 months has increased by 2.4% to 20.5% over the same period. This is now the highest proportion since November 2006 (when the information available goes back to) and is above the previous peak in July 2010, when the total number of claimants was approximately the same as now. Trying to make some sense of this in terms of numbers, claimants peaked in August 2009 at around 13,500, but claimants for more than six months (27% or 3,650 people) and 12 months (7% or 950 people) were lower. We are now looking at 41.1% over six months (4,425people) and 20.5% of claimants unemployed over 12 months (2,200 people).

There are no up to date figures on part-time working that would help compare with the national trend towards people working part-time because they are unable to get a full-time job but there is no reason to suppose that Worcestershire is any different in the regard. 

In April 2012 3,145 people aged 18-24 were claiming JSA benefit compared to 3,450 in March and 3,200 April last year. Of the 3,145, 2,765 had been claiming for up to one year, which is 6.7% of the 18-24 population, a decrease of 0.7 % compared to March and the same as the England average. Of the ten wards in the county with the highest percentages it is Greenlands in Redditch that has the highest number of unemployed young people at 95 (14.6%) and Oldington and Foley park in Kidderminster is second, having been highest for a long time at 14,5% and 75 young people unemployed. The tenth placed ward is Offmore and Comberton at 11.7% and 50 people unemployed. Out of the ten, three are in Redditch, there are two each in Wyre Forest, Worcester and Bromsgrove and one in Malvern Hills. However, the numbers do vary from month to month as do the positions in the list as we are dealing with comparatively small numbers of people. The encouraging news is that the percentages are down on last month and to a lesser degree a year ago, and the overall percentage at 6.7% is lower than March (7.4%) and April 2011 (7.5%).

The number of vacancies available at Job Centres in the County were 5,664 in April 2012, which was 49% higher than in March.

There were quite a few press stories reported about firms taking on staff or sites being developed that potentially could result in new jobs. There were also some stories about threatened redundancies.

Plans to redevelop the former British Sugar factory site in Worcestershire could create more than 400 jobs. Developers St Francis Group has submitted plans to Wyre Forest District Council for the site on Stourport Road. They include 250 homes, a care home, a hotel, shops, restaurants, footpaths and cycle ways

A New Worcester business that provides care for older people in their own homes is looking to create 50 jobs in the coming year. Despite only opening its doors at the beginning of the year, Home Instead Senior Care at Malvern Gate in Bromwich Road is already embarking on a large-scale recruitment drive.

More jobs could be created at a Worcester factory after Heinz announced plans to increase production. The food manufacturer said it intended to expand production of Lea and Perrins sauces by nearly a third to 12,500 tonnes by the end of 2013. Conservative MP for Worcester Robin Walker said it was unclear how many jobs would be created, but that it was good news for the city.

Businesses across Worcestershire are being urged to take advantage of millions of pounds worth of fresh Government funding. A new cash kitty worth £125 million has been launched which aims to benefit manufacturers looking to fund supply chains for their work. Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) said the pot, along with the already-established £1.4 billion Regional Growth Fund (RGF), gives county firms a good chance of securing welcome financial support.

Hundreds of workers are at risk of losing their jobs after a distribution firm announced plans for closure. Yodel could make 200 permanent members of staff redundant, while a number of agency workers also face losing their jobs. Some workers may consider relocating to other sites in the region.

Talks have begun to try to save 400 jobs following the proposed closure of a call centre in Worcester. On Wednesday the home shopping firm Shop Direct announced plans to shut its base on Newtown Road in the city. MP for Worcester Robin Walker said he was involved in talks to try to keep the jobs and that the closure was "not a done deal." The company plans to transfer 1,800 of its staff to services group Serco, which would manage customer contacts.

Being on the Edge and Being a Bridge

Below is the text of a 'Thought for the Week' about chaplaincy which I have written for the Diocese of Worcester website that has just been put up there.

Chaplaincy as a part of the Church's mission and ministry is growing. This is true in many sectors, not just through industrial mission visiting people in their places of work, but in hospital chaplaincy with many volunteer chaplains as well as in prisons where many people help at Sunday chapel services and in many other ways.

It is the number of volunteers that is growing - in most areas of chaplaincy the number of paid staff, like other parts of the Church's ministry, is decreasing. The number of volunteers is an opportunity for many more people to be involved but is also a challenge to maintain continuity and depth of involvement because most volunteers can give less time than paid staff. Those of us who are still paid to be chaplains find our role changing so that as well as keeping a hands-on involvement in some chaplaincy, we support, supervise, mentor and encourage as well as being on the look-out for new volunteers and new opportunites for chaplaincy to be offered.

In my role as Mission Development Offficer I now do these things both in encouraging people visiting workplaces for Faith at Work in Worcestershire (BCUIM also have volunteer chaplains in Dudley) and also in agriculture for the Chaplaincy for Agriculture and Rural Life. It goes without saying that if you would like to be a volunteer I'd be delighted to hear from you! All those I know who are volunteer chaplains find it very rewarding and interesting and feel they are serving God in what they are doing, which they feel is an extension of their church membership.

Clearly, chaplaincy in whatever role is about visiting people and holding conversations - and generally about listening more than speaking, about being concerned for the person you are with. But I'd like to offer a couple of ideas offered by two speakers at two different conferences about chaplaincy that I have recently attended - and I think they apply to many types of chaplaincy, not just the ones I'm involved with.

The first idea is that chaplains are a bridge - a bridge between the world and the church and the other way round. For a bridge to work it needs to be firmly anchored at both ends, so a chaplain needs to be firmly part of the church to know the faith they are grounded in, but also very much part of the world so they can speak the language and be understood and also see where God is at work.

The second idea is that of liminality, which is about being on the edge (and I suppose, linking these two ideas, a bridge is on the edge of each shore). Those of us who have been chaplains are well used to being on the edge of the church. We are also on someone else's territory so they set the ground-rules - they say what the conversation will be about, you don't go with some packaged idea to offer. The chaplain is on the edge of the ‘world' in the encounter too. But that very edginess, as well as sometimes being uncomfortable, means the chaplain has something to bring to each side of the encounter that challenges and can change. And if that change is of Christ then it may be about the transformation that is so much of what the Gospel (good news) is about in this Easter and soon to be Ascension and Pentecost season.

Austerity or Growth?

It seems that for many people austerity isn’t working.  The French people have voted for M. Hollande and Greece has rejected the parties that signed up to a bail-out deal that imposed stringent austerity and very difficult structural reforms.  Even in the UK the government, whilst sticking to the deficit reduction plan, is suggesting various ‘supply-side’ measures in the Queen’s Speech, including reducing red tape and cutting back on employment laws that might reduce business flexibility and competitiveness.

As far as M. Hollande is concerned it seems that, despite the rhetoric from Germany, Mrs Merkel will bend so that some kind of accommodation or at least a form of words can be found to reconcile their two positions.  Publicly, they are being more hard-line with Greece, perhaps dare it be said because they are smaller and can be bossed about, but in reality Greece holds considerable power.  Despite most Greeks not wanting to leave theEuro they could wreak considerable havoc if the markets and others get the jitters and see a precipice approaching.  It remains to be seen whether there are enough politicians in Greece who are prepared to see if a deal could be done that might satisfy the voters that can form a government or if the rhetoric of outright rejection will stand in the way and lead to another election with all the uncertainty that will bring.

Whilst in the long-term we must all live within our means, one has to wonder whether the present prescription is the best means to achieve that.  In the short-term Greece’s debt is un-repayable, which is why there has been a bail-out and effectively the writing off of some of it.  It is also clear that structural change has to come to Greece.  Some of the alleged practices on tax being optional for those on higher incomes and the early pensions said to be paid to many people and so on mean the country is clearly uncompetitive.  Many of these sorts of abuses have to stop.  It is difficult from the outside to know the detail and whether some of the claims are correct.  What is clear, though, is that austerity is leading to very high unemployment and as usual in those situations the poorest suffer most.  Even more stark is the situation in Spain.  Whilst it is said that some people drop out of the official economy into the cash economy, 24% unemployment and double that for young people surely cannot be sustainable or just.

At the same time I wonder about the tyranny of markets.  I suppose I would be anxious if I thought that some of my money or future income held by my bank or pension fund in who knows what kind of financial arrangement was at risk because of some potential default.  But we seem so beholden to the money markets that their ‘view’ trumps all others.  Of course, markets are really a collection of individual views that may well be based on partial information and which collectively do not always act rationally, despite economic theory.  And to some extent, markets only have power because they are allowed power.  At the moment it appears there may be another wobble in the bond markets about the stability of Spanish banks.  That is due to debt bubbles built up due to the property boom, but one can’t help wondering whether austerity is likely to work in Spain and other southern European countries where GDP is falling so that unless the level of debt falls quicker deficits actually get bigger rather than smaller.

I was interested, in a talk at the recent IndustrialMission Association national conference about the regeneration of Longbridge, to hear about modernist and post-modernist planning.  In the past, modernist planning was based on the big ideas – planning – of people like Le Corbusier and those involved in the New Towns movement (and having lived in Redditch I know something of how that was planned) but now we are in an era of post-modern planning, which depends on a developer and economics and markets to succeed.

I make no comment on the merits of different forms of planning; other than as a citizen I have no expertise, though I live on an undifferentiated housing estate built by many building firms that has two small shopping areas really best accessed by car, and we wonder why there is no sense of community.  Nor do I want to get drawn into a left-right argument about the merits of individual freedom and state intervention.

But as a Christian who has a pastoral concern for people at work and for those who have no work, I wonder how best the love of Christ should be shown in this situation.  Yes, we are all uniquely valued and cared for by God but that doesn’t seem to me to be an argument for individualism and pure market forces.  Mutuality and a concern for the weak are a part of Christian thinking, and indeed not just Christian thinking.  Whilst many now criticise the welfare state in the UK, which has perhaps gone beyond the safety net intended by its architects, including Archbishop William Temple, none the less it has been a part of our social settlement for the past 70 years.  It may in some cases allow a culture of dependency but we must also recognise that the climate of growth in the 1950s and 60s that allowed some support to tide one over occasional misfortunes has changed for many in the UK where not only have we got a cyclical downturn but also a structural one.

This is the major challenge faced by all of Europe, not just France with its much vaunted social model that many think is unsustainable, or Greece that was less than honest about its financial situation as well as taking advantage of policies in the Euro area that encouraged over-expansion.  Western Europe (some eastern parts of the EU may be more like parts of the Far East) must recognise not just greater competition from China and other growing parts of the world but also that socially as well as economically we have become focussed on consumption and individual satisfaction and comfort.  Most biblical comment about consumption is critical (it is better to give than to receive, the rich man and his barns, etc.), perhaps because it was an era in which most people were still having to work hard to make a living, but also because it says something about our nature as created by God that we are made to be creative and productive.

Perhaps this kind of debate is needed alongside the economic sticks of austerity.  We also need to differentiate between borrowing to fund consumption, which surely is bad deficit spending, and diverting funds into investment that will make us more efficient and competitive.  This, of course, would be a version of Keynesian economics that the Germans, with their history of anxiety about inflation would not recognise, but one might hope that a clear path set out to invest in areas that would get the economy moving and through that inject spending into the wider economy might be recognised as a credible way forward – one would hope that the spending would be in the hands of those who, finding new work would spend it on good things and not just frivolous consumption!

There is a tension in this between growth and pressure on the environment and a longer-term debate is needed about the shape of our economy if growth is not sustainable.  That is a huge issue about distribution of resources and benefits that we have not even begun to have yet.  In the short-term, however, there are no shortage of green investment programmes that would be possible. All of this requires us to ask where the money is at the moment, for whilst we focus on those who are in deficit there must also be an opposite amount of surplus, though it may not be equally distributed.  What those in surplus need to recognise is that though they may have put their house in order by accepting painful measures that enable their success now (like Germany ten years or so ago) none the less their surpluses cannot continue indefinitely if those with deficits struggle to make ends meet.

Some have characterised our present situation as zombie economics – just keep going because we don’t accept the alternatives of either right wing supply-side measures or policies to promote growth.  Whilst it is going to take a long time to unwind the debt we have accumulated unless we can come up with some imaginative ways of mitigating it or creating some economic momentum, it means we will continue to bump along the bottom for a long time yet.  What worries me are the large number of people, especially young people, who will pay the price in unemployment and under-employment, opportunities lost and lives blighted.