Press Release: Institute for Progressive Christianity Issues Ground-Breaking White Paper on Distributive Justice
Submitted by ipcadmin on Mon, 02/02/2009 - 00:30.
Washington DC
February 2, 2009
The Institute for Progressive Christianity (IPC), a Progressive Christian think tank, today issued a "white paper" that outlines a progressive Christian approach to economics.
Reclaiming Capitalism Through Principles of Distributive Justice, authored by IPC Associate Director Frank L Cocozzelli, details how the great social justice traditions of Catholicism and mainline Protestantism have informed the development of liberal economics; how the dismantling of the key elements of New Deal era financial regulation has contributed to the current economic crisis; and how liberal Christian ideas distributive justice economics can help to solve our contemporary economic crises.
"The Davos World Economic Forum currently in the news, underscores just how deeply our economic crises require a moral basis for both short and long range solutions," said IPC co-founder, Steve Rockwell. "Frank Cocozzelli's paper points the way to establishing a fresh framework for Christian
approaches to economic justice."
Cocozzelli calls on religious progressives, to "reconnect" with historic Christian ideas and accomplishments in the arena of economic justice in
order to solve our current economic crisis. He calls for a moral approach to economics consistent with this tradition, in contrast to the neoconservative view that economics is "inherently amoral."
"Our liberalism, "Cocozzelli writes, "is based on a profound moral vision, and rooted in the best of the Protestant and Catholic traditions that have stood the
test of time as moral philosophies underpinning economics that works."
"The dismantling of New Deal legislation designed to forever curb the excesses of reckless profit-driven business and banking practices played a significant role in the creation of the current economic crisis," Cocozzelli said. "Now, thanks to the short sightedness of both parties, as Yogi Berra once said, 'Its déjà vu all over again."
"The passage of The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 was passed by the Republican Congress and signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton," Cocozzelli continued", repealed a cornerstone New Deal economic firewall, the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which prohibited banks from engaging in both less managed deposit-based investing and riskier securities-based investing."
The paper also:
- Highlights the role of American economist and Catholic priest, Monsignor John A. Ryan on the development of American Catholic views of economics, and as an advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt.
- Suggests that Ryan's "Six Canons of Distributive Justice" as principles for development of a contemporary Christian approach to economics.
- Discusses how neoconservative Catholic intellectuals such as Michael Novak, have abandoned and distorted Catholic teaching on economic justice and relied instead, advocated what Cocozzelli calls the "buccaneer economics" of Austrian school economists, Ludwig Von Mises and F.A Hayek.
Reclaiming Capitalism Through Principles of Distributive Justice may be viewed in its entirety at the web site of the Institute for Progressive Christianity:
http://www.instituteforprogressivechristianity.org/
The Institute for Progressive Christianity is an online think tank, that seeks to further awareness and understanding that the progressive tradition is rooted in core Christian gospel values, and to relate that tradition to personal faith, public policy, family, and the common good. To that end, conducts research, seeks to affect and advance policy, educate the public, and influence every sphere of American public life, including politics, academia, arts, and the church.
Institute for Progressive Christianity
Frank L. Cocozzelli
fcocozzelli@aol.com
516-435-3800
http://www.instituteforprogressivechristianity.org
Stephen Rockwell
srockwell@instituteforprogressivechristianity.org
617-676-8352
Faith Newswire email:
srockwell@instituteforprogressivechristianity.org