Money makes the business world go round, of that there is no doubt. Without finance, there is no business, or at least there is no possibility of acquisition of tangible assets such as plant and machinery, no development of technological innovation, no training of employees and increase in the knowledge base, no growing of the market. Money is, as has often been said, itself neither good nor bad. Its mere existence is not an ethical issue. In business, similarly, the existence of capital markets is not an ethical issue, even if these are sometimes presented as a cross between a casino and a thieves' den. The ethical issues involved in finance are not, therefore, about the morality of the market, although one could be forgiven for thinking they were when one hears some commentators' views. Listen to Robert Kuttner, for example, writing in The New Republic: ‘[T. Boone] Pickens and (Irwin) Jacobs make their livings borrowing money and attempting to seize control of corporations, or cashing in their shares for a fast profit once they have set off a bidding war.’