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ECONOMICS OF THE CANADIAN BISHOPS
Author(s) -
BLOCK WALTER
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
contemporary economic policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.454
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1465-7287
pISSN - 1074-3529
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7287.1988.tb00278.x
Subject(s) - bishops , unemployment , economics , economic interventionism , welfare , government (linguistics) , political science , economic growth , law , market economy , linguistics , philosophy , politics
The author welcomes the bishops' statement as an expression of the uniquely moral aspect of the Canadian unemployment crisis. The statement is dramatic, compassionate and deeply ethical in its concern for the Canadian economy and its people—especially for the poor, the afflicted, and the oppressed. However, the bishops' public policy recommendations are ill‐advised and incompatible with the attainment of their very worthwhile goals. By relying on a quasi‐Marxist economic analysis, the bishops misconstrue the role and effects of inflation, price controls, technological progress, welfare, and the labor union movement. To achieve economic progress, including a cure for unemployment, a move toward freer markets is needed—not more government intervention.