Pope Francis has just issued a document called “The Joy of the Gospel.” It covers many topics. We’d like to address the one generating the most press attention, where the pope comes out strongly against the “trickle-down theories” of the free market.
Context is important. At the heart of the pope’s concern is that in too many places today, the dignity of the human being is under siege. He scores the “feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures” for blunting our consciences. And he worries that money has become a new god.
Like the pope, we see many inequities around the world robbing people of their dignity and preventing them from sharing in the fruits of global prosperity. It is also true that in some places this includes dehumanizing practices that reduce men and women to cogs. We would only point out that in the parts of the earth where people are suffering most from these trends, it is not so much the free market as a rigged market that is to blame.
Many headlines sum up the pope’s letter as a critique of “unfettered” capitalism, and it’s certainly true that Pope Francis believes our financial world needs re-ordering. In reality, of course, unfettered capitalism doesn’t exist. But the places where it comes closest — say, Hong Kong — provide much more real opportunity and dignity for the poor than places where markets are greatly limited.
In truth, the pope’s real enemy is crony capitalism, which he has had long experience with because it dominates his native Latin America. This is a capitalism that insulates the rich and powerful from competition at home and abroad. Under crony capitalism, the poor pay more because they are denied access to better-priced goods and services from abroad; and they have fewer opportunities to use their talents and enterprise to better their conditions. And it is highly corrupting.
We fully share the pope’s concern about an “economy of exclusion and inequality.” We would only say that in the effort to help the poor and marginalized take their rightful place at the banquet of life, Pope Francis will find some of his strongest allies among the ranks of those who champion a free market that plays no favorites.