The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences Series Editors: Jürgen Georg Backhaus · Günther Chaloupek Hans A. Frambach Jürgen Backhaus Günther Chaloupek Hans A. Frambach Editors On the Economic Significance of the Catholic Social Doctrine 125 Years of Rerum Novarum The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences Volume 19 Series editors Jürgen Georg Backhaus Krupp Chair in Public Finance and Fiscal Sociology University of Erfurt Erfurt, Germany Günther Chaloupek Chamber of Labour AK Wien Chamber of Labour Vienna, Austria Hans A. Frambach Microeconomics and the History of Economic Thought Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Management and Economics University of Wuppertal Wuppertal, Germany The European heritage in economics and the social sciences is largely locked in languages other than English. Witness such classics as Storch’s Cours d’Economie Politique, Wicksell’s Finanztheoretische Untersuchungen and Geld, Zins und Güt- erpreise or Pareto’s Trattato di Sociologia Generale. Since about 1937, partly caused by the forced exodus of many scholars from the German language countries and the international reactions to this event, English has become the undisputed primary language of economics and the social sciences. For about one generation, this lan- guage shift did not result in a loss of access to the European non-English sources. However, after foreign language requirements were dropped as entry pre-requisites for receiving the PhD at major research universities, the European heritage in eco- nomics and the social sciences has become largely inaccessible to the vast majority of practicing scholars. In this series, we hope to publish works that address this problem in a threefold manner. An aspect of the European heritage in a language other than English should be critically documented and discussed, reconstructed and assessed from a modern scientific point of view, and tested with respect to its relevance for contemporary economic, social, or political discourse. We welcome submissions that fit this bill in order to make the European heritage in economics and the social sciences available to the international research community of scholars in economics and the social sciences. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/5902 Jürgen Backhaus • Günther Chaloupek Hans A. Frambach Editors On the Economic Significance of the Catholic Social Doctrine 125 Years of Rerum Novarum 123 Editors Jürgen Backhaus Hans A. Frambach Krupp Chair in Public Finance and Fiscal Microeconomics and the History Sociology of Economic Thought University of Erfurt Schumpeter School of Business and Erfurt, Thüringen Economics, Faculty of Management and Germany Economics University of Wuppertal Günther Chaloupek Wuppertal Chamber of Labour Germany AK Wien Vienna Austria ISSN 1572-1744 ISSN 2197-5892 (electronic) The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences ISBN 978-3-319-52544-0 ISBN 978-3-319-52545-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-52545-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017930160 © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Contents Introduction................................................. 1 Ursula Backhaus, Günther Chaloupek and Hans A. Frambach An Economist’s View of the Work of Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler and Its Influence on the Encyclical Rerum novarum ...... 11 Daniel Eissrich Solidarism as the Center of Economy—The Economics of Heinrich Pesch ............................................ 27 Hans A. Frambach Public Economy (“Gemeinwirtschaft”) as a Concept of Social Development Policy—Examples of German Authors of the Late 19th Century ...................................... 47 Karl-Heinz Schmidt Lord Acton and Rerum novarum ................................ 59 Frits L. van Holthoon The False Pretensions of the Catholic Social Doctrine—The Critique of the Catholic Austrian Sociologist August M. Knoll (1900–1963) ..... 69 Günther Chaloupek 125 Years Rerum novarum—The Theological Perspective ............ 81 Peter Schallenberg Dr. Johannes Antonius Veraart: A Catholic Economist on Rerum Novarum ........................................... 89 Robert W.J. Jansen The Roman Connection: From Rerum Novarum to Corporatism in the Netherlands............................................ 107 Andries Nentjes v vi Contents The Justice and the Economics of Rerum novarum on Land .......... 125 Nicolaus Tideman Rerum novarum and Its Principle on the Just Taxation of Immovable Properties ...................................... 135 Francesco Forte, Flavio Felice and Elton Beqiraj Practical Wisdom for Social Innovation. How Christian Entrepreneurs Triggered the Emergence of the Catholic Social Tradition in Europe .......................................... 167 André Habisch Introduction Ursula Backhaus, Günther Chaloupek and Hans A. Frambach In 1891 Pope Leo XIII published the first social encyclical, Rerum novarum. In the preceding decades of the 19th century, several papal encyclicals had dealt with social and political problems of the time under different aspects, but Rerum novarum was the first encyclical in which the Catholic Church spoke out about the economic and social situation of the workers and thereby directly addressed the Social Question. With Rerum novarum a tradition of Catholic social theory came into being that still holds good today: in the 125 years after Rerum novarum almost a dozen papal social encyclicals have been issued which mirror the social, economic and political developments. At the time when Rerum novarum appeared, working conditions were still grueling. Factors like dirt, noise, stench, and heat, together with poor light and lack of air, seriously impaired health. Hygienic facilities were inadequate, danger pro- tection was minimal, and working hours were oppressive. Workers’ associations and labor movements emerged and gained great popularity. In the 70s and 80s of the 19th century at the latest, the labor movement organized in trade unions and socialist parties gained such importance that no social institution could bypass the issue. An official positioning had been expected from the Vatican, which waited, however, for a long time. Late, then, but with corresponding ardor and empathy, a workers’ movement emerged in the church, exemplified in the workers’ pilgrimages U. Backhaus (&) Institute for the State and the Social Sciences, Bonn, Germany e-mail: [email protected] G. Chaloupek Austrian Chamber of Labor, Vienna, Austria e-mail: [email protected] H.A. Frambach Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Management and Economics, University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany e-mail: [email protected] © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 1 J. Backhaus et al. (eds.), On the Economic Significance of the Catholic Social Doctrine, The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences 19, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-52545-7_1 2 U. Backhaus et al. to Rome of 1887 and 1889. Pope Leo XIII addressed the pilgrims and expressed his sympathy with them, emphasizing the need for state intervention to improve their conditions. In 1887 several Catholic study circles dealing with the social questions of the time petitioned Pope Leo for a social encyclical. Their wish was fulfilled and suggestions and opinions sought on this subject throughout the world. In the end it was public pressure that led to the publication of Rerum novarum. From the perspective of economic theory the first social encyclical appeared against the background of an ongoing debate about the advantages and disadvan- tages of capitalist and socialist economic systems that would recur in further encyclicals. If, on the one hand, capitalism was more efficient as an economic system, there were adverse social consequences which called for remedy. Whereas socialism aimed for a fundamental change of the economic system, the church took a middle course between capitalism and socialism. The First World War left Europe in a serious crisis. The miseries caused by war and its consequences confronted the nations of Europe and the world with new challenges.