The New Catholic Economics

Last updated on: December 19, 2014 at 12:24 pm by David Mills

The New Catholic Economics 2014-12-19T12:24:09-04:00 David Mills

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Several respondents to last week’s column for Aleteia, “Free-Market Catholics Are Losing Their Faith (in Capitalism),” rejected my observation that a significant number of politically conservative Catholics are changing their attitude to the state, to a new assertion not just of the limits and dangers of the market but of the need for a welfare and regulatory government. The reasons ranged from “I don’t see it” to “It can’t be!”

It is as I say an exercise in connecting the dots and one can always connect them wrongly. In this week’s column, The New Catholic Economics, I offer more reasons to think this is a real and significant movement and some more analysis of what it means. For example, a response from a Facebook discussion of “Free-Market Catholics.”

My friend Jay Richards (another convert, as it happens) challenged my description. His Twitter name is “@freemarketjay” and he was understandably skeptical. He’d seen no “economically literate” Catholics — Catholics who’d read and understood Hayek, basically — turn to the left in the way I’d described.

A young man closely involved in conservative, free-marketing enterprises responded: “I think there is quite a large group of people who are intimately familiar with free market arguments and would have proudly called themselves capitalists or libertarians at some point in the past, but have changed their minds about economics in light of Church teaching or other developments in their philosophical understanding.”

He rejected the claim that “they just don’t understand the arguments” because the people who offer it have rarely taken the time to understand the anti-capitalist Christians’ arguments. “My generation of politically aware Christians grew up with Hayek and Novak type arguments all around us, and it is not for lack of familiarity that many are choosing St. Thomas and MacIntyre and so forth over them. But I am biased because I consider myself one such person and a friend of many others.

Read it here.

Catholicism & public life

Previous Post

December 16, 2014

The Feminine Appeal of Islam

Next Post

December 17, 2014 Joel Osteen, Gosh . . .

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion & life American Life Anglican Affairs Apologetics Art and artistry Beer Capitalism's downside Catholic converts Catholic issues Catholicism & public life Catholicism in general Christianity & culture Christianity & the Jews Conservatism Conservative problems Death Do unto others Dogs Ecumenical friendship Evangelicalism Evil in the world Family Friendship Heroes How we should live Islam It's a funny old world Jews Judaism Israel Judaism justice Liberalism Life issues Marriage Mary Mass Media Modern culture good & bad Modern life as it is lived Modern Religion Mormonism People Personal reflections Politicians Protestantism Race Rand & Randiansm Secularisms Sexualities Society justice equality freedom The papacy & the pope Uncategorized Worship Writing & Language

Select a Month January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I am twelve men sent to explore the Promised Land, but only two gave a good report. Who are we?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Messengers The twelve spies Explorers Leaders of Israel