CREDO Economists Headline Lumen Christi Conference

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The 6th Annual Lumen Christi Conference on Economics and Catholic Social Thought provoked a thoughtful discussion on conceptions of the human person within economics and theology, and CREDO members played an instrumental role in the conference. CREDO’s own Mary Hirschfeld (Villanova) gave the keynote address at the conference on April 1 at the University of Chicago, and she was joined by fellow CREDO member Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde (Penn), as well as Francis Cardinal George of Chicago, economist Rachel Kranton (Duke), and philosopher Russell Hittinger (Tulsa).

Cardinal George, in his last conference as acting Archbishop of Chicago, opened the event by emphasizing the importance of conversation between economists and bishops. He noted that past conversations were often difficult because of different anthropologies. …

Letter from the President – Second Issue

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Welcome to the second issue of our CREDO newsletter.  A great deal has happened since our last issue.

In the spring, Thomas Piketty’s book, Capital in the 21st Century became a New York Times bestseller, creating excitement, controversy and much discussion in the economics community but probably more so in the Church, media, and broader society.  The focus of the book is, of course, wealth and income inequality, and we have decided to give some focus to the issue in the current issue.  CREDO vice-president Jesus Fernandez Villaverde has contributed a thoughtful review of the book…

CREDO’s First Meeting a Success

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Founded in mid-2013, the Catholic Research Economists Discussion Organization had its first membership meeting on January 4, 2014. The meeting was part of the Allied Social Sciences Association meetings in Philadelphia. CREDO members began with a Mass celebrated by Bishop John McIntyre at St. John the Evangelist’s Catholic Church.

The members followed Mass with a breakfast and meeting…

Welcome from the President of CREDO

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Welcome to the inaugural issue of the CREDO newsletter, “On the Margin.” What do you think of the title? More importantly, what did it make you think of?

The phrase “on the margin” has many different meanings to many different people. To research economists, we use the phrase to think about the costs or benefits of an additional good consumed, worker hired, etc. We think of phrases like “marginal cost”, “marginal product”, or “marginal utility”. To a finance economist, the phrase might mean buying securities “on the margin”, that is, with borrowed money. To businesspersons, the word “margin” might remind them of profit margins. To a person directly engaged with the social ministry of the Church, “on the margin” is a phrase that emphasizes a commitment to those on those people who are sometimes forgotten or neglected members of society, e.g., the poor, indigenous peoples, women and children, the elderly. …