Ethics and Economics

Lincoln Steffens says:
“The social problem
is not a political problem;
it is an economic problem.”
Kropotkin says:
“The economic problem
is not an economic problem;
it is an ethical problem.”
Thorstein Veblen says:
“There are no ethics in modern society.”
R. H. Tawney says:
“There were high ethics
in society
when the Canon Law
was the law of the land.”
The high ethics
of the Canon Law
are embodied in the encyclicals
of Pius XI and Leo XIII
on the social problem.
To apply the ethics
of the encyclicals
to the problems of today,
such is the purpose
of Catholic Action.