The Catholic case against Excesses of Competition (original) (raw)

The Catholic case against unregulated competition: an essay for Catholic and other Educators

International Studies in Catholic Education, 2019

In an earlier essay (Sibley, Angus. 2016. "Can there be a Catholic economics?" International Studies in Catholic Education 8 (2), 211) I observed that 'the Church has a long record of consistently criticisng the obsession with competition that has such a dominant place in orthodox economic thinking and practice'. Inordinate emphasis on competition is so prevalent in current economic behaviour, and has so many adverse consequences, that a more detailed examination of this phenomenon, and of the Church's arguments against it, seems to be timely.

Conflicts and Contrasts: Economics and Catholic Social Teaching

In 1986, the Catholic bishops in the United States issued a pastoral letter call Economic Justice for All. It was criticized by professionals and economists as containing no valid economic thinking and ignored by many in the business community as not understanding the realities of the work place. Why? The Roman Catholic Church, since 1891, has weighed in on economic activity, economic affairs, and economic policy. Sometimes it is the Pope, other times the Bishops, and occasionally theologians speak to economic issues. Why is it their thinking generates controversy? Professional economists deride such statements as being without rigorous economics. Leaders in the business community, many of them Catholic themselves, assail such moral guidance as being out of touch with the realities of the marketplace. What is the Catholic layperson to make of this conflict between the Magisterium and respected economists and business leaders? Is the Church, their moral guide, stepping outside its area by trying to discuss economic activity? Is the Church as out of touch as academic economists and Wall Street leaders claim? Economics and Catholic Social Teaching: Understanding the Conflict and Contrasts explains why academic, orthodox economists and the Church so frequently differ. Unlike many similar books, this does not argue that orthodox economic theory is wrong and Catholic Social Teaching is correct, or vice-versa; it develops an understanding of the perspective from which each develops, a perspective that creates a difference in how goals are justified by each.

Economic Theory, Catholic Social Thought and the Common Good

in Empirical Foundations of the Common Good, Daniel K. Finn, editor (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), pp. 114-141., 2017

This paper is in response to the twofold question posed by the organizers of the conference on Empirical Foundations of the Common Good: "Given what you know empirically and theoretically from your disciplinary perspective, what is the common good and how do markets help or hinder it?" This was further clarified by the question: As an economist what aspects of your field are conducive or detrimental to achieving the common good seen as human flourishing? This is a complex task for a number of reasons. Any conception of the common good covers a wider area than just the economy; further, economics as a discipline has to be distinguished from the actual workings of the political economy. I will focus on three issues in this paper. First, I will outline the conception of the common good found in Catholic social thought and then as an economist try to flesh out its meaning to me. Second, I will explain some of the ways that economic theory can be useful to policy makers in attaining that common good. Third, I will suggest some practical changes to the way the actual economy operates.

The Substance of Things Hoped For: On the Faith and the Economy (Promoting what we Oppose, Part 2)

2014

In the first part of this series it was argued that there is an inextricable bond between economic and cultural liberalism such that when Catholics identify the faith with the defence of neoliberal economics, even though they may oppose abortion, they end up promoting exactly that which they oppose. In this the second part this point is expanded upon and the argument made more explicit and that by reference to Pope Francis' recent Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudium Evangelii. The Exhortation evidences a view of matters economic that sits ill with capitalism, a point understood by Catholic commentators who champion Neoliberalism. This essay argues that Francis' comments are nothing new, especially when compared to what John Paul II and Benedict XVI have written on the subject; indeed, that Francis' Exhortation can be seen as a tempering of their critique of economic liberalism. The essay attempts to tease out what it is that informs the critique of the popes and shows that it has to do with what flows out from the rejection of metaphysics proper, a rejection that defines Modernity, and which ends in the deracination of all things such that even the very concept of 'substance' is dissolved and, thereby, all is made plastic and malleable, including human life. The important point the essay wishes to make is this: the popes are quite clear that the form a culture's economy takes can both ground and exacerbate this anti-essentialist logic, what's more the economy above all others that does this is the one they identify with neoliberal capitalism. As a consequence, Catholics who champion this form of economic theory must think seriously as to whether or not they or the popes are wrong on this matter.

Competing Catholic Views on Private Property and Free Enterprise

American Review of Political Economy, 2010

The present paper demonstrates that there was a sea change of opinion amongst Catholic theologians, in general, and Jesuits in particular, on the issues of private property, economic regulation of the economy and free enterprise. The earlier members of this Order, stemming from the School of Salamanca in the 16th century at the time of the founding of the Society of Jesus, in the main favored economic freedom; their modern successors, with some minor exceptions, take the opposite point of view. Several hypotheses to account for this phenomenon are then raised and discussed.