Williams to address ‘scandal’ of global economy
-26/04/05
The Archbishop of Canterbury is due to address “the scandal of a global economy that leaves children dying and billions in extreme need” in a sermon in London.
Dr Williams will argue that a naive faith in free trade is stripping some countries of their economic power and hampering efforts to overcome poverty.
He is expected to propose that “naive confidence” in free trade must be challenged by hard questioning as to what is genuinely best for each country.
He is to speak at St Paul’s Cathedral to mark the 60th anniversary of the charity Christian Aid.
His criticism comes as Christian Aid launches a Trade Justice campaign.
It is calling for the richer countries to stop relying on trade agreements between each other to enable the poorer countries to develop, claiming free trade is neither free, nor fair.
“The answer is unlikely to be a simple recommendation for a universal and instant end to protection or preference,” Dr Williams will say.
“While prosperity does not makes us godly… it is still true that in whole societies poverty is corrosive and so – no less so – is the despairing assumption that the world is organised in the interests of others.”
The Archbishop is also expected to claim that a fundamental lack of trust is hampering the world’s commitment to fighting poverty.
“The scandal of our current global economy is not simply that it leaves children dying, that it leaves over a billion in extreme need…It is that it reinforces the assumption that trust is not possible and natural; it reinforces a picture of the world in which rivalry or mutual isolation are the obvious forms of behaviour” he will say.
“Do we want to live in a world where trust seems natural? That is the question we need to be looking at today, as believers and as citizens.”
A spokesman for Christian Aid welcomed Dr Williams’ support.
“Our trade justice campaign is what we are really pushing for at the moment and the government is slowly coming round to our way of thinking,” he said.
“More people died from poverty every week than died in the tsunami.
“People like the Archbishop making a stand on this issue can only help us achieve this goal.”