David Cameron speech on responsible capitalism

David Cameron speech on responsible capitalism; Cameron speech SOT - Conservatives always believed in an ownership society. A consistent Conservative theme has been the ambition of building a nation of shareholders, savers and home-owners. Macmillan championed this through home ownership, giving people an asset of their own. Margaret Thatcher did the same with privatisation and share ownership. And three years ago in Davos I called for a new popular capitalism. One that recognised what's gone wrong with capitalism, and which freed people to make something of themselves. To get a good job. To own a home. To start a business. Today this mission of improving markets, and ensuring they are fair as well as free. Informed by the principles of social responsibility and genuinely popular capitalism should have three things at its heart. First, we need be clear about the very specific mistakes of the last decade. Second, we need to put the right rules and institutions in place to correct them. Third, and I think this matters far more than anything else - we need to open up opportunity and enterprise so that everyone has the capacity to participate and benefit from a genuine market economy. We need to boost competition. Back enterprise. Encourage the adventurous spirits who challenge the status quo. That's how we'll build a fairer and more worthwhile economy. So, first: what went wrong? The last government claimed to have got rid of boom and bust. What it really did was allow a debt-fuelled boom to get out of control. The result was a series of lethal imbalances in our economy between north and south, between financial services and manufacturing, between the people who got huge rewards at the top, or welfare at the bottom while everyone else seemed to be left out. The truth is that the last government made a Faustian pact with the City. It encouraged a debt-crazed economy because it needed to pay for spiralling welfare costs and a top-down, interventionist state. It toler...