Economics and Salvation

No doubt you will have heard that, shortly after the November election, the U.S. Catholic bishops will be coming out with a pastoral letter on the U.S. economy. And you may have heard also that “a group of powerful Catholic industrialists, headed by William Simon, the former Secretary of the Treasury” (in the words of Marjorie Hyer of the Washington Post), is planning a parallel letter on the same topic, to be released a few months later. I hasten to submit a few observations on the subject before we are all pastoraled out.

First, we should welcome the bishops, or any other group in whom moral authority has been vested, into the ranks of economic commentators. Economics cannot be divorced from morals, and it is precisely those economists who have tried to pretend that economics is an exact science, and one that can only be understood by specialists and experts, who have been most likely to lead us astray. Those who say that bishops “aren’t qualified” miss an important point. Anything that shifts the focus of discussion away from the “professionals” is potentially a healthy development.

TB

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Tom Bethell

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No doubt you will have heard that, shortly after the November election, the U.S. Catholic bishops will be coming out with a pastoral letter on the U.S. economy. And you may have heard also that “a group of powerful Catholic industrialists, headed by William Simon, the former Secretary of the Treasury” (in the words of Marjorie Hyer of the Washington Post), is planning a parallel letter on the same topic, to be released a few months later. I hasten to submit a few observations on the subject before we are all pastoraled out.

First, we should welcome the bishops, or any other group in whom moral authority has been vested, into the ranks of economic commentators. Economics cannot be divorced from morals, and it is precisely those economists who have tried to pretend that economics is an exact science, and one that can only be understood by specialists and experts, who have been most likely to lead us astray. Those who say that bishops “aren’t qualified” miss an important point. Anything that shifts the focus of discussion away from the “professionals” is potentially a healthy development.