What Can Economists Learn from Catholic Social Thought? (by Charles M.A. Clark) - For most of the 20th Century economists have tried to eliminate ethical analysis from economic theory. This has been to the detriment of economics, because ethical analysis is an essential part of economic behavior. Catholic social thought examines economic and social life from an explicitly ethical perspective, the perspective of the Gospels. It is the argument of this essay that economists can learn a great deal from the Catholic social thought tradition, especially how to examine economic issues based on a view of the human person grounded in human dignity rather than the narrow and unrealistic rational economic man model widely used. Keywords: Catholic social thought; Religion and economics; Social values; Ethics and economics.

Charles M.A. Clark, in "STORIA DEL PENSIERO ECONOMICO" 1/2008, pp. 25-51, DOI: