Value(s): Building a Better World for All by Mark Carney

Reviewed by Ian Thomas Shaw

Mark Carney has arrived in elected politics with remarkable speed, but not from obscurity. For decades, he has moved in the highest circles of power in Canada and internationally, serving as a senior federal official, Governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, and a prominent voice in global financial forums, where he helped shape markets, regulation and international economic strategy. While he was well known to political and corporate elites, he was relatively unknown to the public before his sudden rise to leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada and to the office of prime minister. As an author, Carney remains relatively unknown, having produced only one full-length book: Value(s): Building a Better World for All (2021). This makes it all the more important to read this work to fully grasp the core thoughts and values of our prime minister, and to understand why he may have departed from some of these in the face of realpolitik.

Value(s) is an ambitious, intellectually serious and undeniably important work. It seeks to restore a moral compass to modern capitalism. This book was written before Carney's entry into frontline politics. It clearly stated his principles and what he believed in at that time. However, since its publication, the international environment has hardened dramatically. Geopolitical rivalry has intensified, wars have multiplied, supply chains have been weaponized, populism has deepened and faith in multilateral institutions has eroded further. And we have Trump. The once persuasive argument for rules-based global cooperation is now eclipsed by a world increasingly shaped by raw power, economic nationalism and strategic coercion. While the book still relevant in terms of diagnosis, it is more vulnerable in terms of prescription.

Carney is an economist who knows his field intimately. Few contemporary political leaders can write with equal confidence about Adam Smith, Keynes, monetary policy, financial regulation, and climate risk. The book's central argument—that societies have allowed market prices to crowd out moral values—is compelling, but Value(s) is not an easy or elegant read. Much of it feels like two books stuck together: a university-level economic history text and a stack of bureaucratic briefing notes prepared for a central bank governor. Carney is poignant when explaining systems and ideas, but concision is not his natural gift. He restates his main points over and over, as if readers have short-term memory loss and need constant reminders of the core message. To say the least, this is tedious.

The book's real strength lies in its comprehensive coverage of the history of economic thought. Carney is an engaging guide through the evolution of capitalism, showing how markets moved from being embedded in moral and social frameworks to being treated, in some quarters, as self-justifying ends. His discussions of Adam Smith's ethical foundations, the rise of neoliberal orthodoxy, and the shortcomings of narrow shareholder capitalism are lucid and genuinely illuminating. Even readers without formal training in economics can follow the broad arc of the argument. Carney's talent for synthesis is unquestionable: he makes centuries of contested ideas coherent, relevant, and alive.

The same cannot be said of the sections devoted to the 2008 financial crisis. While these chapters are written from direct experience and undeniable authority, readability does not necessarily follow from authority. The prose is packed with regulatory frameworks, systemic risk channels, incentive distortions, and institutional mechanisms. Specialists may welcome the detail, but general readers will undoubtedly feel overwhelmed by the technical jargon and acronyms. Nonetheless, Carney's central argument is relatively clear. The great financial crash was not just a problem with instruments and incentives. It was also a human story of hubris, fragility, and social cost.

Carney is undeniably most forceful when he addresses climate change. In these chapters, Value(s) becomes urgent and practical. He persuasively argues that climate change is the defining market failure of our age and calls for carbon pricing, mandatory disclosure of risk, long-term investment, and coordinated international action. The policy agenda is serious and concrete. Yet, these pages inevitably invite comparison with his own record in office, and the contrast is awkward. As prime minister, he has pursued an agenda that clearly promotes fossil fuel expansion in the name of competitiveness, energy security, and national resilience. Pipelines, exports and hydrocarbon pragmatism are in direct opposition to the ethical clarity of the climate chapters of Value(s). Carney's shift in position is undeniable. He has abandoned his previous advocacy for concrete climate action, and while one might justify this due to the challenges of governing a resource-rich federation, such considerations pale in the urgency of the climate crisis.

The tension points to the larger irony of the book. Value(s) demands that fairness, solidarity, sustainability and responsibility guide public life. But when these values bump against realpolitik – trade threats, inflation, strategic rivalry, energy insecurity and the leverage of larger economies – they become pliable. This is not just a personal failing on Carney's part; it is central to his evolution from intellectual to leader. Principles are simple to defend in essays and conference halls. They become conditional when jobs, markets and national bargaining power are at stake.

Value(s) is, unquestionably, essential reading, especially in light of Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in January 2026. In that speech, he urged middle powers to cooperate so they are not reduced to victims in a new order dominated by the strongest states. The speech is much clearer after reading the book. His defence of alliances, institutional resilience, and collective action did not arise from immediate political necessity. It arose from his long-standing worldview. Whether that worldview is equal to the age of hard power is another question.

Value(s): Building a Better World for All is published by Signal, an imprint of McClelland & Stewart.