EPPC’s Economics and Ethics Program, under the direction of EPPC Lehrman Institute Fellow in Economics John D. Mueller, traces the relation of modern economic theory to its Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman origins, formulates its practical application to personal, family, and political economy, and explores the interaction of economics, philosophical worldviews, and religious faith. The program aims to foster economic policies—in areas ranging from the tax code to retirement pensions to health care—that recognize and promote the family as the central social institution of American civilization.
Economics and Ethics
Program Publications
View allSocial Futuring, Modern and Ancient
John D. Mueller
This article reviews and compares two approaches to the new, holistic, and multidisciplinary concept “Social Futuring,” which are expressed in two indices based on this concept, entitled the “Social Futuring Index” and the “Human Flourishing Index” (HFI). Broadly speaking, the Social Futuring Index is indebted to the broader context of modern social sciences, while the Human Flourishing Index attempts to update the scholastic moral philosophy, which was based primarily on the insights of Aristotle and Augustine, as combined by Thomas Aquinas (hence the HFI was previously called the “AAA Index”). Finally, we present the key elements of both indices and their measurement for individual countries from a comparative perspective.
Articles
World Futures / May 18, 2022
Atheism: Pro and Con
John D. Mueller
John D. Mueller answers atheist Jeffery Lowder’s recycling of Plato’s argument against religion and morality and Lowder’s defense of atheism.
Articles
Academia.edu / March 28, 2022
Time to Reverse the Curse Over the Dollar
John D. Mueller
Other countries backing their currencies with dollar-denominated securities led to a dilemma for America. U.S. manufacturing jobs have disappeared in direct proportion to the decline in our net reserves.
Articles
The New York Sun / August 5, 2021
Program Media
View allHas the Culture of Wall Street Changed Since the Financial Crisis?
Catholic Finance Association panel discussion / July 31, 2013