Ethics in Economics – Lessons and Themes for Further Development in the Vatican’s 2018 Letter

Since the financial crisis, there has been much discussion about the importance of ethics in economic life. An important contribution to this discussion was a 2018 Vatican letter on the financial system which reiterated and further developed Catholic social teaching. This article argues that the Catholic Church is correct to integrate ethical considerations into the consideration of economic matters as well as to recommend an inter-disciplinary approach to this endeavour. However, the article proposes that, Catholic social teaching in this field should focus more on the importance and development of the virtues. This would help the Church make a unique contribution to debates on particular practices in financial markets and to the development of programmes relating to education and culture. Furthermore, the Church’s understanding of the human person can help us make discerning judgements about the place of regulation in economic life.