Cathonomics

This is the season of Lent, which is usually a time for reflection as Christians prepare for Easter. In a Facebook post, someone was asking for suggestions for spiritual reading. My suggestion was “Cathonomics: How Catholic Tradition Can Create a More Just Economy” by Anthony M. Annett.

Professor Annett begins his book with a historical overview that covers the Hebrew Scriptures, teachings of Jesus, the Early Church and the Church Fathers, Aristotelian virtue ethics, and St. Thomas Aquinas.

Next, he introduces us to the Catholic social teaching in papal encyclicals from Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum (1891) through Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ (2015) and Fratelli Tutti (2020). He compares the principles of neoclassical economics with Catholic social teaching.

The conclusion includes ten policy prescriptions for promoting the common good that are in line with Catholic social teaching.

• First, move away from an excessive reliance on GDP and economic growth.
• Second, make sure that governments guarantee the material bases of human flourishing.
• Third, raise taxes on capital and wealthy individuals.
• Fourth, promote dignified employment as a central goal of policy.
• Fifth, make sure that businesses are responsible to a wider variety of stakeholders than simply shareholders.
• Sixth, rebalance the relationship between capital and labor.
• Seventh, restructure the financial sector to allow it to serve the productive economy rather than itself.
• Eight, support an ethical globalization.
• Ninth, recognize the centrality of the Sustainable Development Goals as the basic contours of a global common good.
• Tenth, solve the climate crisis and other environmental challenges.

So what can we as individuals do to apply these principles? First of all, be a conscious consumer. Choose goods that are ethically produced. As investors, become informed about a company’s ESG (environment. social, and corporate governance) record. Be on the side of labor, which has lost power over the last four decades. Finally, support organizations and politicians who promote policies based on the common good.

Remember that there is enough for everyone, if we share. The key to a just economy is to favor the common good over individualism.