Robert Sirico on Markets, Morality, Faith & Freedom

tonygill — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 08:00:55 +0000

Religious leaders are often quick to criticize free market economics because of the belief that it harms the poor, creates greater inequality, and relies upon the base motives of selfishness. However, can a moral case be made for capitalism and free markets? Rev. Robert Sirico, co-founder and president of The Acton Institute, explores this question in depth. We begin our discussion by reviewing Father Sirico’s personal journey from his idealistic youth in the 1960s and early ’70s to his transformation into a proponent of free market economics. His intellectual development is all the more interesting in that it occured as he was simultaneously drawn back to the Catholic faith of his youth, eventually choosing to enter the seminary and become an ordained priest. During this discussion we review his thoughts on Ayn Rand and other libertarian thinkers such as Friedrich Hayek and Frédéric Bastiat. We then venture into a discussion about greed, selfishness, and self-interest with Rev. Sirico laying out the difference between these different concepts and noting how the pursuit of self-interest can also be good for others as entrepreneurs attempt to benefit themselves by making others happy. Greed, on the other hand, is defined as the pursuit of desire with the intent of subordinating others. Father Sirico then makes a case that socialism tends to promote greed more so than capitalism. This discussion allows us to review early communal experiments by the Pilgrims and Fr. Sirico explains why liberation theologians and others are mistaken to interpret the social organization of the early Church Fathers as an example of socialism. We then discuss the role of profits, the gap between the rich and poor, the nature of envy, and the importance of voluntarism. Our discussion closes with an examination of President Bush’s faith-based initiative (which Rev. Sirico gave some early input on), how government policy (even if pursued with good intentions) may inhibit the important social role of individual charity, and a discussion of the recent controversy surrounding the health care mandate and the Catholic bishops. With the latter issue, we review the tension between a corporatist worldview and the Catholic principle of subsidiarity, a nice review of our earlier discussion with Prof. Phillip Muñoz. Finally, Rev. Sirico details the origins of the Action Institute and his role with that institution. Recorded: May 29, 2012.

Dan Hungerman on Religious Charity and Crowding Out

tonygill — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 08:00:23 +0000

Dan Hungerman — assistant professor of economics at Notre Dame and Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research — joins Tony to discuss his pathbreaking research on how government and other secular entities compete with religious organizations. The first half of the podcast is devoted to Prof. Hungerman’s research on how government welfare spending and taxation “crowds out” religiously-provided services and charitable giving. Dan shows how FDR’s New Deal during the Great Depression led to a significant decline in church-based welfare, which can be attributed directly to a “crowding out” effect. We turn our attention to the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, which represented a rollback of several social service programs. Dan discusses his research showing that the Presbyterian Church responded by increasing its provision of welfare to communities facing a reduction in federal aid. The effect of government welfare and taxation on individual charitable contributions becomes the focus of our discussion and we examine how the racial diversity of a community can affect “warm glow” giving. The podcast concludes with an examination of how the elimination of “blue laws” allowed shopping malls and other secular activities to compete for people’s attention on Sunday mornings and how this reduced church attendance and tithing. Dan offers his thoughts about the relationship between the National Football League and religion in this concluding segment. Recorded: August 30, 2010.

Research On Religion » compassionate conservatism

Robert Sirico on Markets, Morality, Faith & Freedom

Dan Hungerman on Religious Charity and Crowding Out