Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the damage done by excessive financialisation, which loses its way because of the motivation that drives its agents. It shows how financialisation displays the characteristic features of a vice from the perspectives of Aristotelian and MacIntyrean ethics as well as Catholic Social Teaching. The book explains how developments in banking mean that attention needs to be paid to the harms that can be done to the economic system itself, not just to individuals. It outlines a conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between financial incentives and moral concerns, distinguishing amongst different kinds of profit motivational sets. The book attempts to explore and explain how ethics can be thought about and promoted in banking and provides a set of useful perspectives that will stimulate better thinking about banking and business ethics after the global financial crisis.