The Development of Catholic Social Teaching on Economics: Bernard Lonergan and Benedict XVI

Affected by the Great Depression and the inadequacy of the “simple-minded moralism” of church commentators on economic matters, Bernard Lonergan worked on a macrodynamic economic model in the 1940s and returned to it in the 1970s. The authors here situate Lonergan's economics in relation to economic theory then and now, as well as within his own overall project. They consider its possible contribution to the development of Catholic social teaching on economics, especially in dialogue with Benedict XVI's encyclical Caritas in veritate. Finally, they discuss the light Lonergan sheds on the importance and difficulties of interdisciplinary work.