Should we accept the world’s banks can do what they like? (BBC World Service)

Barclays Bank have been criticised for cutting between 10,000 and 12,000 jobs on the same day it announced it was increasing the total paid in bonuses by 10% to £2.38bn. But should we accept that it’s up to the banks to run themselves, and that, in a capitalist world, they are the keys to wealth creation?

This was the topic of the BBC World Service ‘World Have Your Say’ program on Tue 11th Feb 2014, discussed by Peter Morici (Economist and Professor, Maryland Smith School of Business), David Fishwick (Bank of Dave), Brenda Kelly (Chief Market Strategist at IG) and Ben Dyson (Founder of Positive Money) 

You can listen to the program here

“Banks have been really good at convincing us all that they are the most essential industry but the reality is that in the UK the manufacturing industry employs twice as many people as the financial sector. Even the hotel and restaurant industry employs more people.”

“We’re still stuck on this idea that what banking is about is “investing in businesses and that’s creating jobs”, when the reality is that the vast majority of their lending is actually just going towards pushing up house prices and speculation. Very little of it is actually going into business.”

Ben Dyson