Pope Francis Says the State Can Solve World Hunger

Pope Francis addressed the United Nations assembly at a recent conference regarding solutions to world hunger, saying that states across the world should increase their aid efforts and coordinate more closely. He even suggested that capitalism and free markets are the cause of malnutrition itself in the third world.

The Pan Am Post contacted LCC about this event and the Pope’s remarks, requesting a few comments. Our statement, quoted in Guido Burdman’s article:

“Pope Francis’s comments, well-intentioned as they are, still reflect a deficient understanding of the fundamental economics that drives food production and distribution. Assuming that ever more centralized state action can both determine the proper nutrition for every individual throughout the world and then ensure adequate distribution completely overestimates the capabilities of any government, let alone a host of them attempting to act in concert. The best thing any government can do to improve nutrition is simply to get out of the way of the market doing its job, and that’s exactly the opposite of what the Pope intends. Such short term thinking will never solve real problems of malnourishment across the third world.”

You can also read the article in Spanish.

I do like Pope Francis and wish him every blessing as he serves the Catholic Church, but I also hope he realizes that being Pope does not automatically bestow economic wisdom. I would commend to him, as to anyone in the Catholic tradition, Dr. Thomas Woods’s excellent book The Church and the Market.

Do you agree with our assessment? What would you tell the Pope? Let us know in the comments.