Archbishop of Canterbury criticizes protectionism

Tuesday, 17th March 2009
By Matt Cresswell

Protectionism in Britain’s financial system is a ‘sinister thing’ and goes against commonly held ethical values, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said. Dr Rowan Williams was speaking at a lecture in Cardiff entitled Ethics, Economics and Global Justice. He also called for patience and trust to be sought in regard to the economy warned against singling out specific individuals as scapegoats to blame.

His words come just a few weeks after strikers across the country protested against foreign workers in Britain. In the protests strikers challenged the Prime Minister on his previous call for ‘British Jobs for British Workers’. But the Archbishop said he was convinced that protectionism was unethical in a global context. He said: “Morally, protectionism implicitly accepts that wealth maintained at the cost of the neighbour’s disadvantage or worse is a tolerable situation – which is a denial of the belief that what is good for humanity is ultimately coherent or convergent.” the rest