It was Garry S. Becker who, in his seminal 1968 paper, introduced economics to the area of crime and punishment. Academic economists, who disagree among themselves about so many issues, concur about crime and punishment. Out of four main universally accepted motives of punishment (retribution, incapacitation, rehabilitation [i.e., resocialization], and deterrence), economists agree that deterrence…
Continue readingChristian Stewardship and Wealth
By Dylan Pahman and Alexander William Salter When discerning how to approach wealth and commerce, American Orthodox Christians have their work cut out for them. Should we embrace the “Protestant work ethic” of righteous enterprise? Or does the Apostolic witness shun “filthy lucre,” instead favoring a communitarian path? We need more than simplistic answers. The…
Continue readingFather Sergius Bulgakov: Personhood, Inequality, and Economics
by Fr. Robert M. Arida | български | Ελληνικά | ქართული | Русский | Српски In a recent piece in the New York Times, Jamelle Bouie writes: Our society was built on the racial segmentation of personhood. Some people were full humans, guaranteed non-enslavement, secured from expropriation and given the protection of law, and some…
Continue readingWhat’s Missing from the Pope and Patriarch’s Statement on Climate Change
On September 1, Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew issued a joint statement in commemoration of the ecclesiastical Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. As has become typical, this statement expressed concern for the well-being of the poorest of the poor while simultaneously overlooking the primary means by which their poverty has been…
Continue readingOrthodox Theology and Economic Morality
by Dylan Pahman While a leader in environmental theology, the Orthodox Tradition lags behind others when it comes to modern social and economic thought. Economic science has been by and large ignored, if not dismissed, in official and unofficial statements, revealing a troubling disregard for the dignity of this science and a troubling willingness to…
Continue reading