As we move forward into the Third Millennium AD the perennial problem of unmanageable debt is still with us. As if to prove the point, in late November 1997, the Tokuyo City Bank in Japan closed down its business, reminding the world that default still stalks families, institutions and governments. It seems that little has been achieved in handling debt since 1216 when the Magna Carta limited the actions of bailiffs against debtors willing and able to make payment. Current literature about consumer credit, business finance and mortgages reveals the urgent need to tackle the ethics of borrowing and lending on some commonly understood and acceptable basis. In this book, the stewardship concept familiar in accounting, corporate governance, environmental strategy and Christian social ethics is analyzed to provide a framework. The book demonstrates that analysis of the concept of stewardship provides a set of resource-related social values which shed light upon ethical issues in debt management and enable the construction of a decision support model to secure improvements in debt management practice.

Inhalt
Focusing on Stewardship to Consider Debt Management.- A strategy for testing in business ethics.- Literature resources for ethical debt management.- The Structure of this Book.- Notes to Introduction.- 1 The Context of Stewardship: The Debt Problem.- 1.1. Historical Context.- 1.2. Moral Concerns and the Debt Problem.- 1.3. Technical Aspects of the Morality of Debt.- 1.4. Conclusion.- Notes to chapter 1.- 2 The Stewardship Concept.- 2.1 Definitions of Stewardship in Business.- 2.2. A Critical Defense of Stewardship.- 2.3. Development of the Concept of Stewardship.- 2.4. The Dynamics of Stewardship Decision-making.- Notes to Chapter 2.- 3 Borrowers and Borrowing.- 3.1. Stewardship.- 3.2. Entrustedness in Personal Debt Management.- 3.3 Matching.- 3.4. Effectiveness.- 3.5. Development.- 3.6. Accountability.- 3.7. Fairness.- 3.8. Strategic Decisions for Contemporary Issues.- Notes to Chapter 3.- 4 Bankers, Business Finance and Consumer Lending.- 4.1. Business Finance.- 4.2 Consumer Lending.- Notes to Chapter 4.- 5 Mortgage Finance and Money Advice.- 5.1. The Issue of Justice.- 5.2. Mortgage Finance.- 5.3. Money Advice.- Notes to Chapter 5.- 6 The Stewardship Debt Management Mode.- 6.1. The Concept of Stewardship.- 6.2 The Stewardship Debt Management Model.- Notes to Chapter 6.