On September 6, the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, was reported as saying that Britain’s economic model is “broken.” He was commenting on an interim report published by the Commission on Economic Justice, which was formed in 2016 by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Archbishop Welby serves as a member of this commission, alongside business and union leaders.

The commission’s report points to deep and longstanding weaknesses in the UK's economy. Headlines include the claims that “young people today are poorer than previous generations at the same age,” and that gains from economic growth are being distributed “unequally,” favouring corporations and the richest in society rather than raising workers’ average pay.

Archbishop Welby is well-qualified to serve on this commission. Before ordination he worked in the City of London, and his ministry has involved bringing about entrepreneurial change, both locally and more recently for the Church of England as a whole. His book Dethroning Mammon, written for this Lent, tackles the subjects of money and materialism head-on. In it, he engages knowledgeably with the workings of a modern market economy, while arguing strongly that God must be in control of human lives, not mammon.

The IPPR’s commission...