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1. Welcome to New A&M Blog

   September 29, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

   We would like to welcome you to the new Apostles & Markets website and blog. The goal of the new site is to build a community of Catholic and Christian educators, students, and their families who are interested in a dialog about contemporary issues. Discussions of issues will take place within a framework of principles from Catholic social doctrine and concepts from the economic way of thinking.

   A&M blog posts will cover a wide range of current economic issues related to the 12 lessons in the A&M binder as well as extensions and enrichments of the lesson’s themes. You’ll see welcome messages to the latest additions to the community of A&M users around the country and the world. You’ll find book recommendations, posts from theologians, theology teachers, economists, economics teachers, students, as well as useful online and print resources. 

   Check back often. Lesson extensions, teaching suggestions, exchanges of ideas will be added regularly to the Lesson categories on the left side bar. If you’d like to receive a copy of the limited first edition of the Apostles & Markets lesson binder please place an order here. For additional information please contact us.

   Tags: A&M Schools, Education | Comments (1)

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2. House Votes, Markets Drop

   September 29, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

   On the feast of St. Michael the Archangel the United States House of Representatives voted against passage of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 by 228 to 205. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 778 points shortly thereafter, its biggest one day decline. It is clear that the Catholic social doctrine principle of the common good as well as the economic concepts of macroeconomic stabilization and moral hazard, among others, are involved in understanding what’s going on. We will explore financial market turmoil and these themes.

   Tags: Macroeconomic Stabilization, Markets, Moral Hazard, Prices | Comments (1)

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3. Welcome San Miguel High School

   September 25, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

   We would like to welcome San Miguel High School to the A&M community of Catholic educators interested in presenting Catholic social doctrine and economics. San Miguel is a member of the Cristo Rey Network. Here’s what San Miguel High School President Elizabeth Goettl had to say about A&M:

   “This powerful blending of Catholic social teaching and economic theory provides relevance to the study of scripture, theology, and economics. Further, the lessons are expertly designed with clear objectives, relevant readings, assessments, and case studies. This curriculum is a gift!”

    –Elizabeth Goettl, President San Miguel High School — Tucson, Arizona

   Tags: A&M Schools | Comments (0)

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4. Entrepreneurship

   September 25, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

   The St. Peter lesson explores the creation account in Genesis, the freedom of initiative as described in Catholic documents, and the economics of entrepreneurship. Students are asked to apply the principles they learned about in this lesson by writing their own business plan.

   Tags: Entrepreneurship, Freedom, Wealth Creation | Comments (0)

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5. Prices

   September 25, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

   The St. Andrew lesson explores scriptural references to the problem of scarcity, Catholic perspectives on the common good and how competitive free markets can promote it, and the economics of supply and demand. Students apply the principles they learned in this lesson by classifying goods and services exhibiting recent price fluctuations into those which promote and those which do not promote the common good.

   Tags: Common Good, Markets, Prices | Comments (0)

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6. Values and Valuation

   September 25, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

   The St. James lesson explores Biblical references to value, Catholic perspectives on the universal destination of goods, and the economics of diminishing marginal utility. Students apply what they explored in this lesson by classifying and ranking twenty goods and services on the basis of economic and moral criteria.

   Tags: Utility, Valuation | Comments (0)

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7. Profits

   September 25, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

   The St. John lesson explores scriptural references to profit, Catholic perspectives on commutative justice, and the origins and functions of economic profits. Students apply the concepts they examined in the lesson by writing a report on profits and the common good.

   Tags: Profit | Comments (0)

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8. Wages

   September 25, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

   The St. Philip lesson explores Biblical passages that mention wages, Catholic perspectives on just wages and the primacy of persons in the economy, and the economics of wage determination. Students apply what they have learned by writing a report on occupations that promote the common good, operate under competitive conditions, and pay wages that meet employee and employer requirements.

   Tags: Inequality, Wage Disparity, Wages | Comments (0)

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9. Environment

   September 25, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

   The St. Bartholomew lesson explores scriptural passages to pollution, Catholic perspectives on environmental stewardship, and the economics of efficient pollution abatement. Students apply what they learned about environmental stewardship and efficient pollution abatement by researching and writing a neighborhood environmental integrity report which includes a rational and an irrational proposed solution based on efficiency criterion.

   Tags: Environment, Stewardship | Comments (0)

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10. Trade

    September 25, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

    The St. Thomas lesson explores scriptural references to commerce and trade, Catholic perspectives on solidarity, subsidiarity, and the universal destination of goods, and the economics of Ricardian trade theory. Students apply what they learned in the lesson by writing a summary of a webquest into United States trade with Canada and Mexico.

    Tags: Globalization, International Trade | Comments (0)

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11. The Things That Are Caesar’s

    September 25, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

    The St. Matthew lesson explores Biblical passages on taxes, Catholic perspectives on taxation and the role of government, and the economics of ad valorem taxes and tariff welfare analysis.

    Tags: Taxes | Comments (0)

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12. Jobs

    September 25, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

    The St. James the Lesser lesson explores scriptural references to human work, Catholic perspectives on the spiritual and social meaning of human labor, and the economics of full employment and the social and financial costs of unemployment. Students apply what they learned in the lesson by writing a report based on a webquest on the macroeconomic “physiology” of unemployment as a barometer of economic health.

    Tags: Employment, Unemployment | Comments (0)

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13. Immigration

    September 25, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

    The St. Jude lesson explores Biblical passages on proper responses to foreigners, travelers, and strangers, Catholic perspectives on the priority of the family over the state and the rights and responsibilities of immigrants, and the economics of immigration. Students apply what they learned in the lesson by writing talking points and making a Power Point presentation on immigration in the United States based on Census data, and by evaluating proposed immigration legislation.

    Tags: Immigration | Comments (0)

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14. Stabilization

    September 25, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

    The St. Simon lesson explores scriptural references to economic stability, Catholic perspectives on the proper role of the state in promoting human dignity, and the economics of monetary and fiscal stabilization policies. Students apply what they learned by writing and presenting a report on current macroeconomic conditions and appropriate economic and moral policy proscriptions.

    Tags: Business Cycle, Fiscal Policy, Macroeconomic Stabilization, Monetary Policy | Comments (0)

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15. Corruption

    September 25, 2008 by Stephen J. Haessler

    The Judas (St. Matthias) lesson explores Biblical passages on corruption and betrayal, Catholic perspectives on social sin and the requirement to oppose it, and the economics of principal-agent problems, rent seeking, and New Institutional Economic theory. Students apply what they learned in the lesson by writing a script for an oral report on how to combat social sin in institutions like schools.

    Tags: Corruption | Comments (0)

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What is A&M?

Apostles & Markets is a resource for anyone interested in bringing principles of Catholic social doctrine together with economic analysis. (Learn More)

Lessons

• St. Peter (9)
• St. Andrew (4)
• St. James (5)
• St. John (5)
• St. Philip (4)
• St. Bartholomew (6)
• St. Thomas (2)
• St. Matthew (3)
• St. James the Lesser (4)
• St. Jude (3)
• St. Simon (5)
• Judas (St. Matthias) (3)

Other Categories

• Guest Posts (11)
• News and Events (9)
• Testimonials (3)

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Author's Message...

I wrote Apostles & Markets with Catholic teachers in mind...

Stephen J. Haessler, Ph.D.

Bookmarks

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Recommended Reading

Click each cover for more info and a short review.

Pope Benedict XVI

Charity in Truth: Caritas in Veritate

This is a test review.




Thomas Sowell

The Housing Boom and Bust

I’m only on page 15 but this is an awesome book. It is the clearest explanation of the proximite cause of the current recession I’ve seen so far. One of the most important things I’ve learned is housing prices in California, the hottest real estate market leading up to the housing bust, was driven largely by political restrictions on land use. In San Mateo County for example, half of the land was designated off limits for housing. This artificial, political land shortage drove up the prices of even modest homes to mansion-like levels. Must continue reading.




Mark R. Levin

Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto

This is a good book. I especially like how Mr. Levin ties opposition to growing statism to our founding principles and documents. I was shocked by the description of Mass v. EPA (2007) that declared carbon dioxide a poison to be regulated. Absurd. Statism has imposed unfunded ponze schemes like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

The weakest chapter was chapter 9 on immigration. I counted 11 paragraphs in this chapter that dealt with the economics of immigration, none of which mentioned the fact of positive net benefits overall of immigration. I posted on this issue on 25 May 2009.

Despite one weak chapter, the book is a must read for anyone interested in an intelligent defense of freedom and prosperity.




Gregory Clark

A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World (Princeton Economic History of the Western

One of the most astounding claims in this fascinating book (though I’m still not convinced the industrial revolution’s take-off is explained by the survival of the richest) is the admission that a key, maybe the key insight in economics is based on faith and reason. Hmmmm…. You see the importance of faith?

The context of the claim is Clark’s description of Robert Solow’s model of growth as based on a simple equation involving four variables: labor, capital, land, and innovation. This last factor plays a decisive role. And yet:

“Note, however, that when we arrive at this final truth as to the nature of modern growth we have lost all ability to empirically test its truth. It is a statement of reason and faith, not an empirical proposition. Physical capital can be measured, as can the share of capital income in all income in the economy. But the generalized spillovers from innovation activities are not in practice measurable.” (p. 204)

I think this insight makes the dismal science much more interesting because now vulgar materialists and simplistic empiricists might actually have to believe in entrepreneurs without knowing exactly how much they contribute! “…we know they’re important; just not how important…”




Russell Roberts

The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance

This is a wonderful novelized principles textbook. Basic economic concepts are revealed through the dialogues between a high school economics teacher and his English teacher fiancee. When I taught high school economics at Marquette and my wife taught English, I was amazed how closely art resembled life, or was it the other way around?




Barbara Frale

The Templars: The Secret History Revealed

This is a great book. I have a mini-library on the Knights Templar and this is the best of the bunch. Barbara Frahle discovered the Chinon Parchment or trial transcripts of the Templar leadership from the early 1300’s. What I learned from her narrative was that Pope Clement V was not quite the scoundrel as other authors have made him out to be. In fact, he cleared the Templar of heresy, though did find that some of their initiation rites were out of line. In any case, he does not come off like Philip IV who positively salivated at the prospect of expropriating Templar wealth and was willing to use any excuse to enrich himself. May he reflect on all this during his time in Purgatory.

I also learned that the Papacy’s long, long struggle for independence from the monarchical governments of Europe created space within which detailed understandings of human freedom grew. In fact, the divine right of kings may be connected to Philip the (Un)Fair, who made a claim dating back to Clovis that the crowned princes, not the Popes of Rome, had responsibility for protecting the Church on earth. Ominous, most ominous.




Burton W. Folsom

The Myth of the Robber Barons

Short read that rescues the reputation of some American business heros from the muckrakers. Should be read by all teachers and students of American history.




Amity Shlaes

The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression

The quote from William Graham Sumner’s lecture explains the title of this first rate history of the New Deal:

‘As soon as A observes something which seems to him to be wrong, from which X is suffering, A talks it over with B, and A and B then propose to get a law passed to remedy the evil and help X. Their law always proposes to determine … what A, B, and C shall do for X.’ But what about C? There was nothing wrong with A and B helping X. What was wrong was the law, and the indenturing of C to the cause. C was the forgotten man, the man who paid, ‘the man who never is thought of.’ (p. 12)




Thomas Sowell

Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One

My favorite part is Dr. Sowell’s exchange with his teacher, Arthur Smithies of Harvard. Sowell explained his strong feelings in class for a given policy proposal. Dr. Smithies asked, “And then what will happen?” (p. 4) Smithies kept asking this question after each answer, illustrating a key skill of economic analysis in going beyond first stage thinking to consider costs. benefits, and unintended consequences of well-meaning policies like affordable housing, anti-discrimination, or income equalization policies. This is the principle of considering secondary effects.




David Schmidtz

Person, Polis, Planet: Essays in Applied Philosophy

Here is a wonderful quote from p. 176 quote: “In turn, citizens internalize responsibility when they face the world of tangled joint causation as it is, and do not rely on courts to save them from themselves.” Amen. No thanks, Nanny State. Give me personal responsibilty.




Steven D. Knope

Concierge Medicine: A New System to Get the Best Healthcare

This is an important book by a doctor who wants people to take responsibility for their own health and by doing so become healthier.




Diana Wood

Medieval Economic Thought (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks)

Chapters 7 and 8 contain illuminating dicussion of usury. This from p. 205: “Leo X [1515] canonized the attitude that ‘Usury and trewe interest be thinges as contrary as falshed is to trewth,’ in effect, admitting that the Church had come to terms with economic practice …. Paradoxically it was the Protestants, with their biblically based faith, who kept the usuary debate alive by returning to the traditional scholastic attitudes.”

And this from p. 204: “[Pope Leo X] had undermined most of the foundations of the usury doctrine. By accepting the charging of interest by the montes from the beginning of a loan he had denied that loans were free, and also, by implication, suggested that time could be sold. By suggesting that a profit could be made, provided that it involved labor, cost, or risk, he was sanctioning the main extrinsic titles to interest, and so hinting that barren money could be made fruitful by the application of any of these three.”

And of course, a fascinating few pages on ‘clerical usury’ and papal lending practices and the understandings thereof, beginning on p. 171.




Clayton M. Christensen

Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns

Predicts online delivery and differentiated instruction are waves of the schooling future.




Robert William Fogel

The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, 1700-2100: Europe, America, and the Third World (Cambrid

The free economy has contributed hugely to the material foundations of the common good. This book presents an empirical assessment of the “technophysio evolution[ary]” basis of this development, and an “optimistic view of the course of changes in health and longevity during the twenty-first century.” (p. 109)