Abstract
In his historic 1891 Encyclical, Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII addressed himself to the most pressing problems of the times the abuses of capitalism and the illusions of socialism. He called the attention of the world on “the misery and wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class” and condemned the abuses of liberal capitalism, particularly the greed of the capitalist class. At the same time, he vigorously criticized the illusions of socialism, chiefly on the ground that private property is a natural right indispensable for the pursuit of individual freedom. Exactly one hundred years after Rerum Novarum, the problems which plague the world may be identified as the abuses of socialism and the illusions of capitalism.
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© 1993 SIPI Srl, Rivista di Politica Economica
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Uzawa, H. (1993). “Rerum Novarum” Inverted: Abuses of Socialism and Illusions of Capitalism. In: Baldassarri, M., Mundell, R. (eds) Building a New Europe. Central Issues in Contemporary Economic Theory and Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22922-2_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22922-2_1
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