Introduction In recent decades, a significant number of developed countries have accumulated high levels of government debt. Historically, countries have borrowed to fight wars or finance profligate spending. However, the development of modern debt markets and instruments, together with post-war thinking in economics, has changed both the nature of government borrowing and indebtedness, as well […]
Philip Booth weighs state, civil society and market solutions to AI’s power problem and judges polycentric governance the most workable path.
Philip Booth assesses an argument for a limited state and dispersed, competing forms of governance based not simply on a concern for increased freedom, but the ability to flourish.
In his Nobel Prize lecture, Ronald Coase said: ‘a large part of what we think of as economic activity is designed to accomplish what high transaction costs would otherwise prevent’. Think of the retail sector, for example. Its sole function is to reduce transactions costs – not to produce anything tangible. If you want a roast […]
The Protection of Workers, Unions and the Duties of Employers This is a repost of an article originally published on the Catholic Social Teaching blog of St Mary’s University (https://catholicsocialthought.org.uk/). Part I, Part II In this final part of the encyclical, the treatment and protection of the working class is dealt with directly and at […]
The Church, the Family, the State and the Use of Riches We ended Part One of this guide to Rerum novarum with the encyclical’s reminder to the rich that they would have to answer to God if they were not generous with their riches. The focus of that first part was the staunch defence of the […]
Back to Budget Basics Providing Christian commentary on the recent budget is not especially easy. There was a measure to remove the two-child cap on Universal Credit payments that was welcomed by many Christians. But the rest of the budget was really a collection of bits and pieces with many deferred tax rises, on which […]
This is a repost of an article originally published on the Catholic Social Teaching blog of St Mary’s University (https://catholicsocialthought.org.uk/). Historical Context Upon his election, Pope Leo XIV said that he was inspired to take the name ‘Leo’ by Pope Leo XIII’s work on Catholic social teaching. The newly-elected pope especially mentioned Pope Leo XIII’s […]
This is a repost of an appreciation of Pope Francis by CEME Fellow, Professor Philip Booth, first published on the Catholic Social Teaching blog of St Mary’s University. We thought it would be of interest to CEME readers, but reposting does not mean endorsement of every point. In the coverage of the passing of Pope Francis […]
President Trump has certainly brought the issue to the fore with a bang. Perhaps his attempts at protectionism will show the error in the thinking of the anti-globalists in our own country. We don’t get many controlled experiments in economics. Perhaps this will be one. The anti-globalisation trend, which is strongly supported by Christians in […]
The characteristics and consequences of government debt Growth of government debt often goes unnoticed – the spending decisions that lie behind it are more likely to feature in headlines and comment. In addition, government debt may be related to more hidden costs, such as pensions and health care. This chapter reflects on the way government […]
