It will be curious to see if Pope Francis will bring his criticisms of capitalism with him on his visit to the United States. If the Pope is determined to spread the word about the evils of the pursuit of profit, there is no better venue than the country where free markets have reigned since its origin.
The Pope has frequently attacked aspects of capitalism, including what he called “a new idolatry of money.” During a recent speech in Bolivia, the Pontiff quoted Basil of Caesarea, a 4th century Greek Bishop, who called money “the devil’s dung.”
“An unfettered pursuit of money rules,” said Pope Francis. “The service of the common good is left behind.”
It’s basic scripture that those who idolize or worship money are breaking the first two Commandments. And Jesus tells the story of the Samaritan who helped a man who was robbed, beaten and left for dead along the road to Jericho, paying for the man’s stay at an inn with two silver coins.
But capitalism is not inconsistent with Christianity.
Samuel Gregg, research director of the Acton Institute for the study of religion and liberty, told the Wall Street Journal that the Pope’s comments are oversimplified caricatures of market economies as “generally exploitative.”
“He doesn’t seem to want to concede the sheer number of people who have escaped from poverty as a consequence of opening up markets and the activities of business,” Gregg, who is Catholic, told the Journal.
Perhaps the Pope has been influenced by his home country of Argentina, where the economy has been a constant mess. Political corruption and government intervention in the economy has led to shortages of goods and services, failed price controls, loan defaults, currency devaluations and hyperinflation.
The lesson from Argentina is not that free markets don’t work, but rather that government’s micromanagement of the economy is a recipe for disaster.
Globally, the story is how market economies have lifted millions of people out of poverty. As The Economist reported in 2013, “Poverty rates started to collapse towards the end of the 20th century largely because developing country growth accelerated… Around two-thirds of poverty reduction within a country comes from growth.”
In this country, market driven economic growth has contributed to a rise in charitable giving. Catholic Charities reported nearly $300 million in individual contributions last year, while corporations gave $60 million. Clearly, tens of thousands of Americans, many of whom have benefited from a market economy, have taken to heart the story of the Samaritan.
It’s undoubtedly true that greed surfaces in free markets, but as economist Thomas Sowell says, the relevant question is “whether other economic systems, including those founded on altruistic and egalitarian principles actually end up with less greed than an economic system which depends on prices to allocate scarce resources.”
If the Pope knows of one, hopefully he will tell us during his visit.