Globalisation, poverty and the responsibility of business

The Catholic Church, in its teaching about globalisation, has tended to take a nuanced or qualified view. The papal encyclical, Populorum progressio, which was published in 1967 and was the inspiration for a number of the development charities, including our own Cafod, was not especially welcoming of free trade. The encyclical certainly did not encourage the sort of movement to global free trade that we have seen since 1980 and it implied that poor countries might not benefit. This position continued to be reflected in later teaching documents until Centesimus annus in which Pope John Paul II said: Even in recent years it was thought that the poorest countries would develop by isolating themselves from the world market and by depending only on their own resources. Recent experience has shown that countries which did this have suffered stagnation and recession, while the countries which experienced development were those which succeeded in taking part in the general interrelated economic activities at the international level. Pope Francis seems largely to have adopted the qualified view of John Paul II’s predecessor and takes a more sceptical view of globalisation, though he has mentioned its advantages on occasion. For example, Pope Francis has launched a cultural critique: In many countries globalization has meant a hastened deterioration of their own cultural roots and the invasion of ways of thinking and acting proper to other cultures which are economically advanced but ethically debilitated. (Evangelii guadium). The Pope has also criticised consumerist mentalities that come with globalisation. He has gone further though, commenting in an interview: I recognize that globalization has helped many people rise out of poverty, but it has also damned many others to starve to death. It is true that global wealth is growing in absolute terms, but inequalities have also grown and new poverty arisen. Given this perception, it is worth examining the facts. In recent years, there has been a great deal of discussion about poverty and inequality in the world. This has included books by authors such as Thomas Piketty on the supposed growth of inequality. This article examines the facts relating to globalisation, poverty and inequality and also examines the responsibility of business in a world where economic activity involves global co-operation.