Why Catholics Don’t Understand Economics

Why Catholics Don't Understand Economics por
Jeffrey Tucker:

Today, most of what is written about economics in Catholic circles is painful to read. The failing extends left and right, as likely to appear in "progressive" or "traditionalist" publications.

I have what I think is a new theory about why this situation persists. People who live and work primarily within the Catholic milieu are dealing mainly with goods of an infinite nature ... They are what economists call "free goods."

Scarcity is the defining characteristic of the material world, the inescapable fact that gives rise to economics.

As an example, consider the case of the loaves and fishes, an incident in the life of Jesus recorded by all four Gospel writers .... He turned the scarce bits of food into non-scarce goods by making copies of the scarce food. The multitudes ate and were full.

This is completely different from the way things work in the realm of scarce goods. Let's say that you like my shoes and want them. If you take them from me, I do not have them anymore .... It means absolutely nothing to declare that there should be something called socialism for my shoes so that the whole of society can somehow own them. It is factually impossible for this to happen, because shoes are a scarce good. This is why socialism is sheer fantasy, a meaningless dreamland as regards scarce goods.

The moral norm is that non-scarce goods should be free. There is no physical limit on their distribution. There is no conflict over ownership. They would not be subject to rationing. This is not true with regard to material goods.