Sen. Marco Rubio delivers an address on Nov. 5, 2019 at the Catholic University of America. Image: Busch School of Business, Catholic University of America.
In a November 5 speech at Catholic University, and in an August web essay at First Things, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) publicly aligned himself with Catholic social teaching on the market. Quoting Pope Leo XIII, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis, Rubio calls his view “Common-Good Capitalism.” He has been criticized on all sides, both for throwing capitalism under the bus (here and here) as well as for not throwing capitalism under the bus (here).
The principles are attractive, not just for Catholics, but for Christians and people of good will in general. It is high time they were expressly articulated by U.S. politicians. In both the speech and the essay, however, Rubio's main application of the principles misses the boat. Minimally, any application of Catholic social thought to the market needs to meet two conditions: The first is recognition that the market is made for man and not man for the market. The second is “do no harm” when trying to achieve the first condition. It is easy, even when unintended, to make market outcomes worse even with—or especially with—good intentions that reflect only the first condition but not the second.
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