Popeconomics: save European human 'capital'

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Andrew Kotler

13 June, 2010

Pope is well aware of the fact that the papacy is losing public faith in recent times after the exposure of scandals related to child abuse in several parts of the world. So what next, that could bring that faith back.

POPE IS well aware of the fact that the papacy is losing public faith in recent times after the exposure of scandals related to child abuse in several parts of the world. So what next, that could bring that faith back.

Well, in this troubled financial times, especially European debt crisis what could have been better than preaching socio-financial responsibility.

Pope Benedict XVI told European banking and development officials Saturday to keep families’ needs paramount as they devise solution to the country’s financial crises.

Benedict emphasizing the need of human capital said, “Economy and Finance are no more than tools, means to safeguard human capital, the only capital worth saving.”

It sounds nice, but unfortunately best of the best economists failed to define the families’ need relative to time. Tools and means theory is not new and most of us recall it in troubled time and forget once we move out of it.

Benedict told the representatives of the European Council’s Development Bank during a Vatican audience that their task was to make the “human person, and even more particularly, families and those in great need, the center and the aim” of economic policies.

On rescue plan he advised the representatives to abide by the Europe’s tradition of generous fraternity. Although he didn’t named any country in particular but efforts to bail out Greece from its financial disaster exposed tensions in Europe over how much countries should help a fellow European Union nation.

For it was just Europe and its families at the center stage of the talk, in recent past the Greek disaster seems to be spreading in Portugal, Spain and Hungry. Amid dwindling revenues, budget shortfalls and falling euro against dollar pope found an opportunity to intrude in people mind through fear of finance.

He will definitely get some space in financial media in coming days, where there is no coverage of what Pope think or acts. How effective this move will be, tough to guess but the correlation of religion and finance cannot be denied altogether, especially in crisis time.