The Institute of Economic Affairs explores the ethical argument for a free economy – and why Christians are not making it. In the latest episode of its podcast, an Anglican priest and a Catholic scholar discuss that question, as well as Archbishop Justin Welby’s homily against Amazon, Jesus’ supposed condemnation of wealth, and why clergy tend to support government intervention into the economy.

Fr. Marcus Walker, Rector of St. Bartholomew’s Church (COE) in London, speaks with Religion & Liberty Transatlantic contributor Philip Booth, an IEA senior fellow.

“One of the problems here,” said Fr. Walker, is “ we have not made the ethical case for the free market, or for capitalism, for the last 30 years. I think that we felt that this fight was won with the fall of the Berlin Wall, and actually since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the ethical case has gotten even stronger. There has never been a greater decline in poverty across the world than we have seen since the fall of the Berlin Wall.”

Listen here:

You can download the podcast here.

Listen to all 70 episodes (and counting) of “IEA Conversations: Live from Lord North Street” on Podbean.

And watch for the latest episode of our own podcast, Radio Free ing shortly.

Clegg. This photo has been cropped. CC BY-SA 2.0.)