Very few popes have ever understood economics. In fact, very few religious people understand economics.
Economics does not make people treat life as a commodity. In fact, the Pope doesn’t really seem to know what a commodity is, though it is a buzz-word on the left. He has picked this up from his Argentine upbringing. Commodities, after all, are largely good things. A commodity is something which you can buy which is useful. It is a “good” in the broad sense (which originally included services).
Obviously, many commodities are not thrown away: the better made they are, the more they last. Education is even a commodity: someone has to produce it by effort, it is useful and desirable — and in the case of education, we hope that it will last a lifetime.
Otherwise, I am glad to see this Pope forthrightly supporting life. That is the least we can expect from religious leaders, but it is nonetheless welcome.
Economy does not per se against life. Normally the economy is the human way of getting to live, which is why we say we are “earning a living,” meaning we are taking care of ourselves, and hopefully even some others. A good economy increases wealth and enables people to climb out of poverty. The Pope should be for that. By this measure, Argentina is not doing so well, though it is perhaps the best of any South American country in its natural endowments. It just shows that good luck alone does not bring success to a country.
The Pope is right on abortion, clueless on the economy.