Mark Carney is the BBC Radio 4 Reith Lecturer for 2020

The lectures will examine how market valuations are shaping the values of society, and in the process undercutting the social fabric necessary for markets.

Drawing on the turmoil of the past decade, Carney will argue that the crises of capitalism, climate and Covid have common roots in a deeper crisis of values. Building on the human response to Covid-19 - one that prioritised the common good - the lectures will suggest how we can rebalance the relationship between society’s values and how we value, so that individual creativity and market dynamism can be channelled to achieve higher social goals, including inclusive growth and environmental sustainability.

Mark Carney says: “I am deeply honoured to have been asked to give the 2020 Reith Lectures. I intend to use this platform to rethink 'value' because during my 12 years as a G7 central bank governor, I found that whenever I could step back from what felt like daily crisis management, the same deeper issues would loom.

"What is value? Which values underpin value? Can the very act of valuation shape our values and constrain our choices? How do the valuations of markets affect the values of our society? Does the narrowness of our vision, the poverty of our perspective, mean we undervalue what matters most to our collective wellbeing? And how can we turn this around?”

Mohit Bakaya, Controller of Radio 4, says: “I am absolutely delighted that Mark Carney is to be the Radio 4 Reith lecturer 2020. His planned exploration of values, and how we begin to distinguish between personal/societal values and market value could not be more timely.

"It also forms an important continuation of the work we’ve started to do as we ‘Rethink’ the world around us - asking how we can improve our lives and bring new thinking to the way we face the challenges of the future.”

The details for recording this year’s Reith Lectures are still to be decided. It is hoped that they will be recorded in front of an audience, but this will be confirmed at a later date.

Notes to Editors
Canadian Mark Carney had a 13-year career with Goldman Sachs in their London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto offices. He joined the Bank of Canada in 2003 as Deputy Governor and then served as a senior civil servant in the Canadian Department of Finance under both Conservative and Liberal governments. He was appointed Governor of the Bank of Canada in 2008, just prior to the intensification of the global financial crisis, and held that position until June 2013.

Succeeding Mario Draghi, he was Chair of the Financial Stability Board from 2011-2018, where he oversaw the G20’s wide-ranging reform of the global financial system. In July 2013, he became the 120th Governor of the Bank of England, a post he occupied until the spring of 2020. Dr Carney is currently the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Climate Finance and the Finance Advisor to Prime Minister Johnson for COP26 in Glasgow.

The Reith Lectures were inaugurated 72 years ago in 1948 by the BBC to mark the historic contribution made to public service broadcasting by Sir John (later Lord) Reith, the corporation's first director-general.

John Reith maintained that broadcasting should be a public service which enriches the intellectual and cultural life of the nation. It is in this spirit that the BBC each year invites a leading figure to deliver a series of lectures on radio. The aim is to advance public understanding and debate about significant issues of contemporary interest.

The Reith Archive is available at bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith

IP

Related Media Centre Links

• Radio 4 - Rethink