Values: Building a Better World for All

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Winner of the 2021 National Business Book Award • Shortlisted for the 2021 Donner Prize

A bold and urgent argument by the Prime Minister of Canada and former bank governor on the radical, foundational change that is required if we are to build an economy and society based not on market values but on human values.

Our world is full of fault lines—growing inequality in income and opportunity; systemic racism; health and economic crises from a global pandemic; mistrust of experts; the existential threat of climate change; deep threats to employment in a digital economy with robotics on the rise. Mark Carney argues that these fundamental problems and others like them stem from a common crisis in values. Drawing on the turmoil of the past decade, he shows how "market economies" have evolved into "market societies" where price determines the value of everything.

When we think about what we, as individuals, value most highly, we might list fairness, health, the protection of our rights, economic security from poverty, the preservation of natural diversity, resources, and beauty. The tragedy is, these things that we hold dearest are too often the casualties of our twenty-first century world, where they ought to be our bedrock.

In this profoundly important book, Mark Carney offers a vision of a more humane society and a practical manifesto for getting there. How we reform our infrastructure to make things better and fairer is at the heart of every chapter, with outlines of wholly new ideas that can restructure society and enshrine our human values at the core of all that we build for our children and grandchildren.

MARK CARNEY is Prime Minister of Canada. He was previously Governor of the Bank of England and Governor of the Bank of Canada. He and his wife, Diana, live in Ottawa and have four children.

ISBN: 9780771051579
Format: Paperback
Pages: 528
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Published: November 08, 2022

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Winner of the 2021 National Business Book Award • Shortlisted for the 2021 Donner Prize

"A fantastic read for anyone interested in the most pressing issues facing the world. Carney articulates the dilemmas that lie between society's values and the economic market's value. He proposes a more fruitful path for bringing them closer together, so that the challenges we face can be seen as opportunities to solve. The need for a world of profit with better purpose is explained in such a clear and persuasive style. I hope it gets read by many people. His final chapter about humility, alone, is worthy for its lovely description of the realities of the journey to apparent success." —Jim O'Neil, chair of Chatham House, former chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, former commercial secretary to the Treasury

"Value(s) is a radical book and speaks out accessibly as to how we get everyone involved in solving our problems. And this is what we need: 50 Shades of People for 50 Shades of Green. Great leadership is not a bull horn but rather, as Mark Carney shows, a set of clear instructions in a smoke-filled room." —Bono

"An essential book for anyone interested in how to ensure a sustainable and fair future for generations to come. Mark Carney argues that we must increasingly draw on our fundamental Canadian values to ensure that markets work to bend the arc of history towards climate and social justice and a sustainable future. His ten point plan for a sustainable recovery is what the next generation needs and deserves. Carney envisions a future for Canada, coming out of the Pandemic, that builds value for all and recognizes that our economy is deeply embedded in nature, not apart from it." —Edward Burtynsky

"Writing with the benefit of almost two decades at the heart of global financial policymaking higher circles, Mark Carney's indispensable new book asks how we can go from knowing the price of everything to understanding its true value. From the Great Financial Crisis to climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, this is the essential handbook for 21st century leaders, policymakers and everyone who wants to build a fair and sustainable world." —Christine Lagarde, former chair and managing director of the IMF and president of the European Central Bank