"A Bookshelf Essential"
Clara Piano reviews The Kingdom of God and the Common Good
On Monday, writing for the Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME), economist Clara Piano reviewed The Kingdom of God and the Common Good:
Rather than waiting for someone else to begin a broad, accessible conversation about Christian social thought — and the distinctive Orthodox contribution to it — Pahman simply started building. Like an experienced construction manager, he brings decades of preparation to the task: years as a Research Scholar at the Acton Institute, a PhD in Theological Studies from St. Mary’s University (Twickenham, London), and his work as the Executive Editor of the illustrious Journal of Markets and Morality. Unlike the typical book in this genre, his knowledge extends as comfortably to the economic contributions of Smith, Keynes, and Hayek as it does to Scripture and history.
Once again, it is very affirming to read a positive review from an economist, since I am not an economist. I took great care to make sure I accurately represented “the economic contributions of Smith, Keynes, and Hayek,” among others, but I still worried that I might blunder something and have to read over and over again about how I misrepresented economist X.
For those wondering if this is just a friend of mine offering a free advertisement for the book, the answer is no. I do know Clara, but not that well. She is at least a friendly, professional acquaintance. However, she does also offer some criticisms, particularly of my evaluation of what I call the “Great Divergence” between ethics and economics. That said, I suspect after a conversation we’d find our positions closer than they may seem. But it is always better practice for an author to own any failure to communicate his/her views than to blame the reader. So point taken. I’ll try to be clearer the next time I write about the topic.
Speaking of, I was especially encouraged to read this from Clara: “I would like to read many more books about the importance of asceticism and liturgy in modern economic life.” If that’s the impression The Kingdom of God and the Common Good has on readers, I should be in business for years to come. Hopefully, I won’t be the only one.
Read Clara Piano’s full review at CEME here.
And, of course, you can pick up your own copy of The Kingdom of God and the Common Good here.
