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By “political economy” I mean both the method of thought and the body of knowledge which refer to human economising behaviour. The body of knowledge includes both theory — theorems, laws, empirical generalisations, etc., and “facts” — history, description of institution, statistical data, etc. By “Christian theology” I mean both the method of thought and the body of knowledge which refer to the human religious understanding of Jesus of Nazareth. “Religious” here implies awareness of, or belief in, God. The body of knowledge may include pre‐Christian religion (such as that reported in the Old Testament), and the results of independent inquiry (such as natural theology) in so far as these are interpreted by, or “refracted” through what theologians call the “Christ event”.

This essay develops four points. First, two basic reasons led to John Paul II’s advocacy of the market economy in Centesimus Annus ‐ the creativity of labour, and the failures of socialism and excessive state intervention to ensure basic welfare, especially in underdeveloped countries. Second, the implications of this new‐found support for the market system, its institutions and their working require some clarification. Third, essential qualifications remain: private and social morality must guide economic freedom, just legal framework is required, and government surveillance must remain especially of distribution. Fourth, today’s market system, now operating globally, has given rise to new needs for ensuring adequate employment with security of tenure. Firms and public agencies should see themselves as “communities of persons” concerned with the welfare of their employees. Finally, this discussion of the market economy takes issue with those who confuse a morally directed version with one reflecting automatic forces, and with others who think a desirable economic system and policy and the premises of economic science cannot be influenced by Christian thought.

Christian Democracy as an ideology and as a political movement has been ascendant in Western European states for half a century, forming the governing party or a major part of the governing coalition of parties in many of them over numerous decades up to the present. Yet the study of Christian Democracy, its general ideology and general programmatic elements across Western Europe, has been singularly lacking. Centrist establishment parties and economic programmes seem not to have the same appeal to academic investigators as the more exciting and ideologically demarcated ones. Also the future seems bleak for some Christian Democratic parties in Western Europe. The focuses are on the general ideology of the movement and the shared programmatic commonalities among the parties. Advances a consideration of the future for CD parties in the short term and the problems confronting Christian Democracy in the future. Also assesses the role and prospects for Christian Democracy in the European Union, particularly as they relate to the European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament.

Defines the stream of thought in the UK known as Christian socialism or social Christianity as an Anglican movement much influenced by UK Unitarian humanism, and shows that Roscher, who approached the same nineteenthcentury problems as a Lutheran, came to similar conclusions. A comparative study shows the similarity and differences, as well as the continued relevance of these ideas down to the present day.

Review essay on Finn, D. K. (Ed.). (2010). The true wealth of nations. Catholic social thought and economic life. Oxford/New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Faith‐based activism in living wage campaigns is on the rise. Summarizes recent campaigns to enact living wage ordinances in US municipalities, underscoring the role of community‐church partnerships such as Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, and other local organizations in the struggle for wage justice. Explores the theological bases of this activism by tracing the evolution of the concept of a just, living wage in Christian social economic thought. To illustrate the historical and philosophical roots of living wage discourse, provides textual analysis of major Roman Catholic and Episcopal Church documents and briefly considers writings by US social economists in the first half of the twentieth century.

This study compares traditional, neoclassical economics with two religiously‐based economic paradigms. The first relies on an application of the teachings of Buddhism. The second, of more recent vintage, is based on Christian principles, and is grounded in the social justice teachings of the Catholic Church of the past 100 years. The exercise of comparing neoclassical economics with these two religiously‐based paradigms is not meant to replace the former with one of the latter, but to provide a pair of prisms through which neoclassical economics can be viewed and fine tuned.

While disputes over the nature of economic science go back almost to its origins, the search for new directions and even some recasting has become more intense as slackening growth and virulent inflation heighten old quarrels over distribution and other issues. The alternative of “social” economics, itself at least 150 years old, has been subject to many attempts to formulate its essential character, from the early socialists and Catholic social reformers to the current resurgence of interest. My purpose here is to re‐assert that that which is of the essence of a social approach to economics must derive from placing values (I mean ethical or moral values) at the heart of economic enquiry; so that their nature and source cannot be passed over sotto voce as is often done, nor the real difficulties that arise from incorporating values within social science (see the first part of this article). Secondly, mainstream economics is currently undergoing a deep malaise, deriving partly from its over‐specialised character but more importantly from a certain loss of direction; and whether you choose or not to regard a values‐oriented social economics as merely one of several “paradigms”, it clearly can restore purpose to economic enquiry. This is discussed in part II of this article. My conclusion is that, while study of societal relations in the economic domain is rewarding and important, a social economics that is not centred on values will lose its historic opportunity to share in solving the widely acknowledged “crisis” of Western society.

Aversion to liberalism and socialism was indeed a trademark of Catholic economic thought from Rerum Novarum onwards and therefore many Catholic economists are to be found among those looking for a third way. François Perroux and Maurice Byé were among the most prominent of them. They partook a closeness to the Catholic church and a good knowledge of Brazil through their missions in this country. But they differed in their methodology and in their approach to the European Union. Byé remained firmly rooted in the methodological individualism whereas Perroux’ approach seem too fuzzy to be characterized. These differences are obvious in their treatment of the European issues where Perroux’ stance for a Europe without shores contrasts with Byé’s successful recommendations for a step-by-step construction of the Little Europe. After six decades it is time to bring Byé out of the shadows.