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1. Prophets and Profits: Economics and Theology in Conflict?
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29 — 1 — ProPHets aNd ProFits Economics and Theology in Conflict? What are the first principles of economics? To know this we must first ask what is its end. An answer to that question is simple: efficiency . The end of the market is to allocate scarce resources as efficiently as possible. this may seem intrinsically opposed to the end of theology, which is friendship with God, but we should not judge it so too quickly. Efficiency in itself is not a faithless end. Anyone who has worked for an inefficient corporation or institution knows how troubling that can be. the question is how encompassing this end will be. Will it require all other ends to serve it? Are there not reasons for being inefficient in some activities? Can efficiency serve the ultimate end of charity, which characterizes friendship with God and never ends? On the other hand, does the logic of the market entail first principles that exceed the limited purpose of the end of efficiency and subordinate everything to them as necessary means? the following conversation does not answer these questions, but hopes to illumine them. 0 / Nancy Ruth Fox and D. Stephen Long nAncy fox: An economist’s DescriPtion of theology AnD economics Efficiency, Charity and Justice Perhaps the first conflict between theology and economics arises as to what constitutes the goal of an economic system. Should efficiency be the goal of an economic system? Neoclassical economists would claim that efficiency is the appropriate goal of an economic system and would even state that such a claim is itself a positive, rather than a normative, statement. this is what economic analysis does; it assesses efficiency, separate from a prescribed normative vision. theologians are more likely to view justice and charity as the appropriate goal of an economic system. thus, the u.s. Catholic bishops state, our faith calls us to measure this economy not only by what it produces, but also by how it touches human life and whether it produces or undermines the dignity of the human person. economic decisions have human consequences and moral content; they help and hurt people, strengthen or weaken family life, advance or diminish the quality of justice in our land. (Stackhouse , 1995, 439)6 Examples of these differing perspectives appear regularly in questions of public policy. Should we have a minimum wage? Neoclassical economists say no because it is inefficient and interferes with the allocatable role of the market. Catholic theologians have advocated for more than a minimum wage; they argue for a just wage. Should health care management be based on the “bottom line?” Neoclassical economists say yes, otherwise no incentive to contain costs exists. theologians question the appropriateness of placing monetary value on health and life. Moreover, accessibility to health care should be independent of economic status. should people be allowed to sell their bodily organs, either while alive or after death? Four thousand people die waiting for [54.243.2.41] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 16:03 GMT) Prophets and Profits / 1 organ transplants while another 12,000–15,000 people die each year whose organs could be used. Neoclassical economists find the market a reasonable means of allocating usable organs, which get uselessly buried every year with their “owners.” To allow the market to distribute these organs would produce a more efficient system. Everyone has his price; no one is harmed and some are better off. the proposal is Pareto superior.7 However, some theologians find the marketing of body organs a denial of friendship and charity. Offering organs for a price degrades the human person. Should corporations strive solely for efficiency? Milton Friedman suggests that the “only social responsibility of business—[is] to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits.” (Friedman, 2006, 9) Of course, even CEO’s are suspicious of subordinating all business practices to efficiency. Thus, Bennett Le Bow, CEO of Brooke Group which owns Liggett Group,8 the smallest of the american tobacco companies recently stated in a commencement address: the dual pressures of economics and politics in the business world will frequently challenge your instincts to “do the right things.” resist those pressures. . . . listen to your moral voices, and do not be afraid to break from the pack, even if it costs you and your company a lot of money. Although the prioritizing of efficiency makes even business leaders uneasy, economics makes little sense without the assumption that it is the central, if not the sole, purpose...