Pope says free market, ‘trickle-down’ policies fail society
VATICAN CITY Pope Francis said on Sunday that the COVID-19 pandemic was the latest crisis to prove that market forces alone and “trickledown” economic policies had failed to produce the social benefits their proponents claim.
In an encyclical on the theme of human fraternity, Francis also said private property cannot be considered an absolute right in all cases where some lived extravagantly while others had nothing. Called “Fratelli Tutti” (Brothers All), the encyclical’s title prompted criticism for not using inclusive language after it was announced last month. In Italian, Fratelli means brothers but it is also used to mean brothers and sisters. The Vatican said it was taken from the “Admonitions”, or guidelines, written by St Francis of Assisi in the 13th century to his followers and could not be changed. The pope says in the first line of the 86page encyclical that St. Francis had “addressed his brothers and sisters” that way. In the document, he uses the term “men and women” 15 times and speaks several times about defending the rights and dignity of women. Encyclicals are the most authoritative form of papal writing but they are not infallible. The encyclical, which Francis signed in Assisi on
Saturday, covers topics such as fraternity, immigration, the richpoor gap, economic and social injustices, healthcare imbalances and the widening political polarisation in many countries.
The pope took direct aim at trickledown economics, the theory favoured by conservatives that tax breaks and other incentives for big business and the wealthy eventually will benefit the rest of society through investment and job creation.
(Reuters)