theuniverse

Sunday 26th August, 2012 www.thecatholicuniverse.com

The leading voice of Catholic opinion across Britain and Ireland £1.30 €1.75

Isle of Wight refuge for Benedictines

Isle of Wight refuge for Benedictines

How monks came to found abbey of Our Lady of the Quarry See pages 16 and 17

Is it time to stop paying soccer stars huge wages? Moral questions raised as report reveals that footballers’ salaries have risen by staggering 1,500 per cent over the past 50 years

By Emma Lander As football enters its second week of the new season, leading Catholics have called for the industry to look more closely at the significant amounts of money the industry earns, and pays to players. With top footballers earning up to £1 million a month and season tickets for Premiership games costing more that £3,000, the football industry has been likened to banks in the way it is run.

“The football industry is being serviced by debt,” said Kevin Flanagan, founder and director of St Anthony’s Centre for Church and Industry, in the shadows of Old Trafford football stadium, Manchester.

“Clubs must be called into account by the Football Association and government as they are just doing what the banks did - look at what happened at Glasgow Rangers FC.

“Companies, whoever they are should not be allowed to trade on debt in that way. It is a downward spiral to complete destruction and decay,” Mr Flanagan told TheUniverse.

Over the past 50 years, footballers have seen pay rises of 1,500 percent, against the 186 percent increase in average UK wages, according to a new study by the High Pay Centre. While fans are paying the price for such large wages by having to face a huge hike in ticket prices, some people have also blamed them for fueling the business by agreeing to pay the extortionate prices.

Economist and author Gene Callagahan believes strongly that fans must share some of the responsibility for this problem.

“It is the very fans who often grumble about the “ridiculous” wages paid to top athletes who in effect set their salaries,” said Mr Callagahan.

“That’s because in a market economy the price paid for any factor of production arises from the choices consumers make about the items they wish to buy and how much they are willing to pay,” says Callahan, who has recently written a book on the subject, Economics forRealPeople.

“But if we are to treat our fellow citizens as autonomous individuals responsible for and entitled to make their own decisions, then it follows that they must be allowed to evaluate arguments as to how they should allocate their time and resources themselves.

“In a free society the proper remedy available to those who deplore smoking or are convinced that their fellows should buy fewer Britney Spears CDs and more Bach is to persuade others of their beliefs,” he said.

However, in today’s market societies, many believe that consumers’ choices about what to purchase are not really free because they have been unduly shaped by massive and pervasive marketing efforts designed to convince people that they want or even need products that they could easily forgo.

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Gone With the Wind – archdiocese given rights to a classic American novel Page 11

Conor Can’t Say No to Nick Grimshaw

Brighton’s answer to Justin Bieber created quite a stir this week when he turned up for the launch party for the Radio 1 Teen Awards.

Nineteen year old Conor Maynard, a former pupil of Cardinal Newman School, Hove, met up with fellow Catholic Nick Grimshaw, who is going to host the awards at the Wembley Arena on 7th October.

As well as a host of guest celebrities, the pair were joined by One Direction, Taylor Swift and Little Mix for the bash.

Conor was catapulted into stardom when he was only 17, after he sang Rihanna’s OnlyGirlintheWorldinto a home video camera and posted it online. He became an internet sensation overnight, and in March released his first single, Can’tSayNo.

“To be asked to perform at something that’s also for an amazing cause feels so exciting. I think the feeling to be nominated for something like that would be amazing,” said Conor.

TicketsfortheRadio1 TeenAwardsgoonsaleon 22ndSeptember.Detailsat:

www.bbc.co.uk/radio1.

More of us having to lean on family and friends for loans

The amounts lent to cashstrapped families in informal loans from friends and relatives have more than doubled in the last three months to reach a new high, a study has found.

The typical size of such loans reached £1,545 in August, Aviva’s family finances report found, compared with £701 in May, the highest figure the study has recorded since the reports began in January last year.

The report suggested the rise was an indication that people are turning to loved ones to avoid taking on formal borrowing and the charges that come with it.

It also found that family debt levels crept up from £9,314 on average in May to £10,563, excluding mortgages but including debts such as personal loans, overdrafts and credit cards.

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