Ludwig von Mises Speaks to the Pope

The Pope has made a number of statements about the economy, including this one: "Not paying fairly, not giving a job because you are only looking at balance sheets, only looking at how to make a profit. That goes against God!" This seems quite anti-market.

Ludwig von Mises wrote in Human Action (p.240 the scholars edition)

Theism and Deism of the Age of Enlightenment viewed the regularity of natural phenomena as an emanation of the decrees of Providence. When the philosophers of the Enlightenment discovered that there prevails a regularity of phenomena also in human action and in social evolution, they were prepared to interpret it likewise as evidence of the paternal care of the Creator of the universe. This was the true meaning of the doctrine of the predetermined harmony as expounded by some economists. The social philosophy of paternal despotism laid stress upon the divine mission of kings and autocrats predestined to rule the peoples. The liberals retorted that the operation of an unhampered market, on which the consumer–i.e., every citizen–is sovereign, brings about more satisfactory results than the decrees of anointed rulers. Observe the functioning of the market system, they said, and you will discover in it the finger of God.

(ht Bob Murphy)