Productivity and the economic pastoral: Implications for growth

This paper identifies the fundamental principles and ethical norms presented in the first draft of the U.S. Bishops' Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy which apply to the issue of economic productivity. These principles are compared with accepted managerial principles for improving productivity and the similarities noted. Finally, the new challenge of the Economic Pastoral is identified as extending the scope of application of these principles beyond those persons who are working in an enterprise to those persons who are affected by the enterprise.Robert L. Armacost is Assistant Professor of Management Science at Marquette University, and chairperson of the planning committee for Archdiocesan-wide hearings on the Economic Pastoral. He is published in Operations Research and Mathematical Programming.