In the 2021 book “Value(s),” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote, “Western society is morally rotten and has been corrupted by capitalism.”
Carney did not make such a statement, nor did it appear in his book. “Value(s): Building a Better World for All” was a critique of present-day economic systems in a culture that rejects human values. He called for a rebalancing of “the essential dynamism of capitalism with our broader social goals.”
As Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney began his tenure in March 2025, many users online looked into his past writings as an economist for insight into his worldview. According to numerous posts (archived), Carney wrote the following in his 2021 book “Value(s): Building a Better World for All”:
(@davemcmillanmtl/X)
Another X post (archived) read: “Carney in his book said Western society is morally corrupt… And requires rigid controls on personal freedoms.”
(@CardinalWayne/X)
The screenshot shared above came from a 2021 National Post review of Carney’s book by columnist Peter Foster, and indicates the words quoted in social media posts were likely Foster’s, not Carney’s (emphasis ours):
In his book Value(s): Building a Better World for All, Mark Carney, former governor both of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, claims that Western society is morally rotten, and that it has been corrupted by capitalism, which has brought about a “climate emergency“ that threatens life on earth. This, he claims, requires rigid controls on personal freedom, industry and corporate funding.
No such quote appears in the book, which offers a critique of current markets and how they fail to prioritize human values. Carney did not call society “morally rotten” in the book, nor did he claim that “it has been corrupted by capitalism.” As such, we rate this claim as an incorrect attribution.
We looked for variations of the alleged quote in the book by searching for Carney’s descriptions of capitalism, morality, and Western society. Our search confirmed that it doesn’t contain the quote, “Western society is morally rotten, and that it has been corrupted by capitalism.”
A Google search of the quote arrived at the same result. The quote, clearly fashioned by stringing together phrases from Foster’s review, originated in social media posts that attributed it to Carney.
For comparison, a 2021 review of Carney’s book in The Guardian offered a very different synopsis and critique.
In sum, Carney is critical of unfettered capitalism and its effects on society, but the quote attributed to him was fake, cobbled together by person(s) unknown from a negative review of his book.