From The Wealth of Nations to Populorum Progressio (On the Development of Peoples): Wealth and Development from the Perspective of the Catholic Social Thought Tradition

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2012.00850.x
• Date: 01 October 2012
• Author: CHARLES M. A. CLARK
• Published date: 01 October 2012

From The Wealth of Nations to Populorum

Progressio (On the Development of

Peoples): Wealth and Development from

the Perspective of the Catholic Social

Thought Tradition

By CHARLES M. A. CLARK*

ABSTRACT. Catholic social thought (CST) looks at economic develop-

ment from the broader framework of authentic human development.

It is only by viewing both man’s dignity and his social nature that we

include the full nature of the human being. In CST wealth is under-

stood based on its role in promoting authentic human development.

Wealth is a gift from God, with humans participating in its creation,

and its creation, distribution, and its use must be carried out in a

manner that respects God’s law (justice and charity). Furthermore,

man should never place wealth above God or above humans. Those

who control wealth have special responsibilities with regards to their

use of it; thus the right of private property is always restricted by the

social responsibility to use it towards the common good. The goal

must be the development of the whole person and all people. Wealth

is socially created and thus must be distributed, at least partially,

among the entire community. Economic development needs to be

grounded in social justice and its two co-principles, charity and justice.

Grounding economic development in the authentic development of

the person means placing the people of the poor countries at the

center of their development drama, both as the leading actors and as

the directors.

A philosophy begins with Being, with the end and value of a living thing;

and it is manifest that materialism that only considers economic ethics,

cannot cover the question at all. If the problem of happiness were solved

*Charles M. A. Clark is Senior Fellow, Vincentian Center of Church and Society and

Professor of Economics, the Peter J. Tobin College of Business, St. John’s University.

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 71, No. 4 (October, 2012).

© 2012 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc.

by economic comfort, the classes who are more comfortable would be

happy, which is absurd. (G. K. Chesterton)

Introduction: The Challenge of Catholic Social Thought

From the perspective of most economists the problem of economic

development is typically seen as a problem of exceedingly low per

capita income, derived by dividing some measure of total output by

some measure of population. Variations among the competing theo-

ries generally emphasize either the numerator or the dominator,

with the more “comprehensive” explanations taking both into con-

sideration. Framed in this manner, the problem of economic devel-

opment historically has been presented as a problem of inadequate

production (here Adam Smith is the starting point), excessive popu-

lation (Malthusian theories), or both (the grand synthesis achieved

under John Stuart Mill). Economic theories that go beyond the limi-

tations of the grand neoclassical synthesis will often examine the

social and historical factors that have played a role in either the

inadequate levels of production or the excessive population. A few

(Andre Gunnar Frank) will state that the problem is not necessarily

inadequate production but how the benefits of world production are

distributed. They note that those who control world production use

the labor and natural resources of the poor to enrich the already

affluent. Yet even in these heterodox theories, for the most part,

development is seen as a mostly or exclusively economic story.

Here the line dividing conservative neoclassical economics and

radical Marxism are rather thin, as both are almost exclusively mate-

rialist explanations.

Catholic social thought (CST) offers a different perspective, one that

looks at economic development from the broader framework of

authentic human development. It is not hostile to economic develop-

ment, or even the materialistic aspects of economic development, but

instead places economic development in its proper perspective. This

alternative perspective is based on CST’s challenge to neoclassical

economics as a means for understanding economic and social issues,

including the problem of development. These challenges are: (1.)

economic activity is also social, political, cultural, and spiritual activity,

1048 The American Journal of Economics and Sociology