Theology: Christian / Theological Ethics: Capitalism and Socialism

Calculated Futures examines the ethical and theological underpinnings of the free-market economy, investigating not only the morality of corporations and exchange rates, but also how the politics of economics shape people as moral agents. It does this less by insisting on the unfavorable effects of capitalism, and more by drawing on theological virtues, Christian doctrines, and liturgical practices to discover what they might show us about economic exchanges. Calculated Futures seeks a way forward by engaging economics as a social scientific discipline without subordinating theology to it.

What does the history of Christian views of economic life mean for economic life in the twenty-first century? Here Daniel Finn reviews the insights provided by a large number of texts, from the Bible and the early church, to the Middle Ages and the Protestant Reformation, to treatments of the subject in the last century. Relying on both social science and theology, Finn then turns to the implications of this history for economic life today. Throughout, the book invites the reader to engage the sources and to develop an answer to the volumes basic question.

This book stands out amid the many works critical of mainstream economics for its author's reader-friendly intention to make accessible the problem of how underdevelopment in the South is linked to overdevelopment in the North, what to do about social injustice and poverty both domestically and between the industrialized and developing countries, and the global environmental destruction that is proceeding apace.In addition to its many features deliberately aimed at helping college students, Professor Klaus Nurnberger has transcended the professional limitations of economics to present a holistic analysis of the human and environmental failings of our current market economy. He draws on recent thinking in a variety of disciplines. His arguments relate both to political economy and to people's worldviews. And he does not shrink from making clear the ethical considerations which must infuse both historical judgements as well as the policy choices for the future which he espouses.

What happens when ethical interpretations meet life? Readings sample divergent views on moral issues. Readers can work through case studies.

Based on the works of Marx, Veblen and Weber, and in stark contrast to mainstream economics, this book presents a view of money as an object of desire.