A Prosperous New Year?

Acting editor Fr Chris Chatteris SJ

Theres definitely more and more of them about  books on the end of economic growth are now coming at us thick and fast, books like The End of Growth, by Richard Heinberg. Is this a genuine sign of the times? As we move into 2015 with the price of oil almost half of what it was last year, partly due to sluggish economies, what do we, as Christians, make of it all?

“These authors all maintain that the inevitable painful economic slowdown is happening now “

The unassailable point of all these books is that nothing grows forever: the supply of natural resources upon which the economy ultimately feeds, is finite. Heinberg calls it peak everything. He thinks this crisis calls not only for a new economics but a new vision of the good life, one in which happiness is sought not through more consumables, but rather in family and community relations, cultural activities and active concern for human wellbeing.

These authors all maintain that the inevitable painful economic slowdown is happening now and is evidenced by the banking crash of 2008, the slow European economy and the crash of the oil price. The slowdown is not smooth, but actually feels like the juddering motion of a car driven by a newcomer to the clutch.

Its all very alarming, especially to politicians whose kneejerk response is to kickstart the economy. Of course economies havent actually stopped, but their growth is certainly faltering, even in China.

One can really understand our leaders desire to stoke economic growth, especially in the developing world. In a poor country with a growing population, the laudable aim of economic growth is to expand the cake and enable more people to partake of it. China, growing at almost 10% per year for several decades, has lifted millions of people out of poverty.

In Western countries the routine political promise is steadily growing consumerism. Many Westerners realise this is no longer sustainable. However, they also note that the investment bankers whose recklessness triggered the 2008 collapse have been bailed out. Hence, the call on the streets of the West is to redistribute the wealth of the super-rich 1% through increased taxation.

The received wisdom of the last quarter of the 20th century is that wide wage differentials are essential to motivate people to work hard. But a point comes when a person gives up in despair and resentment. That point has surely been well passed when bosses earn as much in one day as the employees see in a year.

High inequality is also being challenged in a book with an intriguing title, The Spirit Level, by British health researchers Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. They claim that high inequality is actually bad for us. Comparing a number of developed countries, they found that the more unequal they were, the worse the rates of infant mortality, educational failure, life expectancy, violence, suicide, imprisonment and physical and mental health. And the reverse correlation is also true more equality means better scores on all social indicators.

Why is this? They suggest that there is a psychological reason. If inequality seems unbridgeable to those at the bottom, then many will simply give up the struggle to improve their lot. When people give up, they often turn to drink, drugs, gambling, promiscuity and other risky forms of behaviour to drown their despair. On the other hand, if inequality is moderate, those at the bottom will be motivated to attempt the climb.

There s a sense in which the Churchs social teaching on the common good and documents from Rerum Novarum to Caritas in Veritate already address this situation. However, one wonders whether  like the politicians and economists  we Catholics are a little intellectually stunned by the prospect of the end of growth. We do rather like to see our congregations and collections steadily increasing.

We should certainly always be concerned about spreading the message of the Gospel more widely. Go out into the whole world and proclaim the good news, is Jesus command to us.

When it comes to economics, however, a sign of the times which indicates the need for a radical re-think about sharing of the worlds wealth may worry politicians and economists but it should surely not scare Christs followers.