— director of Love in Religion Project, Regent’s Park College, Oxford
“This remarkable and timely book by Kenneth Barnes is essential reading for all those who are disturbed by a moral vacuum at the heart of business, or who want to know how the Christian faith can speak into our present financial crisis.”
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— board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia
“Clearly written, concise, and compelling, this is a book for our time. It speaks to a deepening disaffection with capitalism as we know it and offers hope of a better way where hope is sorely lacking.”
— director of Princeton University Faith & Work Initiative
“Many who live in glass houses built by the fruits of capitalism are the first to throw stones at it. Yet few understand the underlying economics and theology. Barnes is one of the few theologically trained scholars and clergy to also bring firsthand insights, knowledge, and experience from an extended career in the corporate world and global marketplace. A theologically informed, constructive critique of global capitalism, Redeeming Capitalism is a must-read for all those who wish to build more sustainable houses.”
— chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management
“Barnes has written a gem. This is a must-read for any serious student of capitalism from an academic or practitioner background.”
— chairman of Cadence Innova, London
“Kenneth Barnes has written a book that would take someone else a lifetime to pen. Redeeming Capitalism is a tour de force through the fields of business, religion, and economics. Ken shows great skill and will receive great admiration for his effort in bringing forth this book.”
— dean of Christchurch, Oxford
“There can be few who are better qualified and more sure-footed in this complex field. Kenneth Barnes’s book gives us an intriguing and insightful analysis into how capitalism might be redeemed. For any who might be wondering just how our banking systems, markets, and consumerism might be reimagined within the context of a specifically faith-based ethic, Barnes provides both challenge and hope.”
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Publishers Weekly (STARRED review)
"Barnes, a Christian theologian and business ethicist, delivers a tour de force arguing that capitalism fails most people but isn’t beyond repair. The 2008 global financial crisis, writes Barnes, was the first shot in a battle for the soul of capitalism. The size and impact of the crisis forced Barnes to contemplate not whether capitalism needs to be reformed but rather whether it deserves to be reformed. To make his points, he barrels through the history of modern capitalism, beginning with Adam Smith, touching on Marx’s incisive critique of capitalism’s excesses, diving into Max Weber and the Protestant ethic, and finally landing with an analysis of what he calls “postmodern capitalism” that includes sections on the Occupy movement and Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century. He concludes that capitalism should be salvaged and that there is no economic system that provides a workable alternative. As a solution to the intransigent problem of income inequality, Barnes proposes a “virtuous capitalism” not based on wealth accumulation and conspicuous consumption but on human flourishing through reforming “the social, political, theological, and ethical drivers that have formed our economic system.” This means “ethical constraint” on the part of the ultra-wealthy combined with a society-wide rejection of “ever cheaper, less useful, disposable products.” By clearly explaining the history of markets and corrosive effects of contemporary capitalism, Barnes’s well-reasoned book will help readers forge a more empathetic way forward."
