The Pope did not call for free enterprise with morality. He simply railed against it.
I've watched with interest, this last week, as FReepers defended him by projecting their own philosophies onto his words. But he said what he said; his words were clear.
In this context, some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system.
To even use the term "trickle-down" belies your statement.
FREE ENTERPRISE THE FAIREST SYSTEM, KEY TO ENDING POVERTY -
Arthur Brooks AEI
May 18, 2012
By Peter Samuel
Briefs poverty free enterprise aei
“The (biggest) recipients of the blessings of free enterprise are the poor themselves. How do I know it?
“Go back to 1970, and compare 1970 around the world to today. It turns out that between 1970 and 2010 the worst poverty in the world - people who live on one dollar a day or less - has decreased by 80 percent. You never hear about that.
“It is the greatest achievement in human history, and you never hear about it.
“80 percent of the world’s worst poverty has been eradicated (in 40 years.)
“That has never ever happened before.
“So what did that? What accounts for that?
“United Nations?
“US foreign aid?
“The International Monetary Fund?
“Central planning?
“...nah.
“It was globalization, free trade, the boom in international entrepreneurship. In short it was the free enterprise system, American style, which is our gift to the world.
“...I will assert and defend the statement that if you love the poor, if you are a good Samaritan you must stand for the free enterprise system, and you must defend it not just for ourselves but for people around the world.
“It is the best anti-poverty measure ever invented.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss80iuEBC6A
“THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT IN HUMAN HISTORY”: THE GLOBAL REDUCTION IN POVERTY.
Kevin Glass | Jan 04, 2014
American Enterprise Institute scholar Mark Perry highlights what he says “might qualify as the chart of the century because it illustrates one of the most remarkable achievements in human history.”
.
Perry also points to Arthur Brooks’ commentary on why this is happening across the globe:
It was globalization, free trade, the boom in international entrepreneurship. In short, it was the free enterprise
system, American style, which is our gift to the world.
I will state, assert and defend the statement that if you love the poor, if you are a good Samaritan, you must stand for the free enterprise system, and you must defend it, not just for ourselves but for people around the world. It is the best anti-poverty measure ever invented.
That’s not to say there isn’t a long way to go in making progress on global poverty - not to mention poverty in the United States - but it’s important to recognize how far we’ve come in the last fifty years.
I spoke with Zack Beauchamp on Bloggingheads.tv on this exact topic. In our 2013 round-up video, he highlighted this trend and said that 2013 was likely the best year in human history: