Will Hutton on the banking crisis, at 5x15

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Will Hutton on the banking crisis, at 5x15

16 May 2011

Speakers: Will Hutton

Will Hutton has no problem with capitalism, he wants to make that absolutely clear. He ,is not as some of his critics have labeled him, a socialist – indeed he agreed with Deng Xiaoping when, on his southern tour of 1992,, he declared the era of world socialism was over. Capitalism Hutton freely accepts, is our future, but what he despairs at is the two schools of thought that Capitalism is either all providing and all wise, or a morally incapable system.

Hutton contends that the picture is a little more complicated than that: there is “good capitalism” based on fairness, due reward, incentivising hard work and “bad capitalism” unjust and unfair. This “bad capitalism” Hutton says was the reason things all went pear-shaped in 2008 – common sense said we were heading for a fall, but our blind faith in the market prevailed. “Good capitalism” is where we need to aspire to be, but it doesn’t just let the markets get on with it, it has a responsibility to iron out what Hutton refers to as “brute good luck” and “brute bad luck” in society, through institutions such as inheritance tax and the NHS, where we can share in each others pain and gain. But “bad capitalism” is entrenched, the Bankers salaries aren’t “calibrated on the scales of justice” and as far as Hutton can see they are here to stay. And with this toxic combination of our “reckless” coalition government and a broken system, Hutton smells another disaster just around the corner.