You Have Been Warned!

Pursuit of wealth 'led to downturn'

2 hours 39 mins ago
Press Assoc.

The Archbishop of York has claimed the financial crisis was inevitable because of society's obsession with making money. The Archbishop of York castigates bankers for the economic downturn in his Easter message

Dr John Sentamu castigated financiers for abandoning all fear of risk and being blind to the dangers of unregulated markets. In a strongly worded Easter message, he also pointed the finger at society as a whole, arguing that a greed culture had led to the downturn. He said bankers should have heeded the words of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of America, who said that banks without proper regulation had the power to "destroy individuals, communities and nations".

"As a society our collective pursuit of making money reaped its reward and a collapse was unavoidable." He continued: "Did we really think that interest rates, house prices and mortgage offers would go on rising without a limit, like a juggler optimistically adding more and more balls to his act with only the same two hands to catch them?"

Dr Sentamu said that the dangers of seeking personal gain in a "culture of bonuses" should have been avoided, while opportunities to do good should have been taken up.
"God's intervention in the system is not by underwriting avarice but by calling us to account," he said.