If you’ve heard of economist Julian Simon before, it is likely because he came up with the idea of vouchers as a solution to airline overbooking (Simon 1968), or won a famous bet against biologist Paul Ehrlich (Sabin 2013). However, Simon should be of special interest to Catholic economists since the lion’s share of his…
Catholic schools serve 62 million K12 students, with Catholic universities serving millions more. Yet relatively littleapplied research by economists has been conducted on Catholic schools, especially in the developing world whereenrollment is rising quickly. I am exploring the possibility of creating a advisory team of economists who could sup-port the International Office of Catholic Education…
I have been in several seminars and informal conversations where someone asks “what is subsidiarity, anyway?” In response, I have heard both knowledgeable lay people, priests, and bishops answer something to this effect: “subsidiarity is the principle that actions, when possible, should be taken at the lowest level,” or “it is basically decentralization.” In this…
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. …
Non-economists often falsely assume that homo economicus is somehow isomorphic with homo avidus, greedy man. The charge is unfair and confuses pursuit of the goods one desire with pursuit of narrow self-interest. Although the charge is unfair, it does capture some real reasons to be uneasy with the economic approach to the human person. The difficulty can best be seen by considering the alternative view of the human person we find in Catholic thought. The sketch that follows derives from Thomas Aquinas, whose thought is central to the Catholic approach. …
As a Catholic economist, the minimum wage has always presented a conundrum for me. The argument that the minimum wage does not deliver the poverty relief it promises, and that programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are more efficient, is rather persuasive. However, I worry that the current system does too little to preserve the dignity of work for low-skilled workers. The dignity of the person must be upheld in all aspects of life, including work. As stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC),“In work, the person exercises and fulfills in part the potential inscribed in his nature (CCC, 2428).” Worker dignity is preserved in part when one’s efforts are “able to draw from work the means of providing for his life and that of his family, and of serving the human community (CCC, 2433).” In an increasingly global economy, the ability for low-skilled workers in the U.S. to provide for themselves and their families has diminished. …
Every year the Lumen Christi Institute conference on Catholic Social Teaching and Economics invites high-profile economists to the University of Chicago to present their work and engage in the ongoing conversation between economics and Catholic Social Teaching. On a larger stage, the Pontifical Academy of the Social Sciences regularly places top economists next to theologians, philosophers, and bishops to explore issues of common concern.
Why would an economist ever want to enter into a conversation with Catholic Social Teaching (CST)? Economists, like most people, take moral questions seriously, and think that the work of economists can and should inform attempts to answer these questions. Because CST is morally and intellectually serious, and invites prominent economists (Catholic and non-Catholic) into its conversations, it is an obvious candidate for attention from economists. …