sexta-feira, 26 de setembro de 2008

THE FUNDAMENTALISM OF FREE-MARKET THEOLOGY

A crise continua, com lances hilários, como é o caso da tese que aparentemente, fundamenta teoricamente, o pacote Paulson & Bernanke: a descoberta dos preços, esta seria a função do plano, fazer uma tarefa que o mercado, aparentemente é incapaz. Naturalmente, desconhecem o paper clássico do Hayek sobre o tema.

Enquanto o Congresso americano não chega a um acordo, recomendo a leitura desse artigo, bastante curto, do teólogo e economista, Daniel Finn, publicado no último número da Commonweal. Para quem tiver um tempo livre, vale a pena a ler o excelente livro, publicado recentemente, “The Moral Ecology of Markets: A Framework for Assessing Justice in Economic Life (Cambridge, 2006), adquirido, por sugestão desse missivista, pela Biblioteca da PUC-SP.

Libertarian Heresy

Catholic moral theology has long been enriched by fruitful dialogue with secular moral arguments. Many of the church fathers were deeply shaped by the Stoic view of moral order, which some of them learned even before they encountered Christian faith; and Thomas Aquinas incorporated the “pagan” philosophy of Aristotle in creating his system of natural-law ethics, the foundation of Catholic moral theology for seven centuries. So there’s no shame in learning from secular views when they assist in the proclamation of the gospel and the tradition that has flowed from it. Recently, however, several Catholic neoconservatives seem to have embraced a secular, libertarian view of the moral life that stands in stark contrast to Catholic moral theology.

Neoconservative Catholics like Michael Novak (The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism) have made significant contributions to our ethical debates about economic life. These include an emphasis on the creation of wealth and on those virtues, such as industry and personal responsibility, that a market economy promotes. Recently, however, some neoconservatives have rolled out doubtful theological arguments to use against liberals who see an active government as one means by which Christians can fulfill their God-given obligations to help others. The basic neocon rejoinder is articulated by Samuel Gregg in his book Economic Thinking for the Theologically Minded, which argues that “forced solidarity” is “morally empty.” “If solidarity is a virtue,” Gregg writes, “it cannot be coerced.”


Para ler o artigo completo(acesso é livre) clique aqui