Michael R. Strain, Columnist

Yes, Paul Ryan Can Be Pro-Capitalist and a Catholic

The House speaker wants to increase economic growth. What could be more progressive than that?

August 29, 2017 at 2:30 PM UTC

Michael R. Strain is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is director of economic policy studies and Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of “The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It).”

Politics has nothing to do with it.
Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

At a nationally televised town hall last week, Paul Ryan was asked how he upholds the Catholic Church’s teaching that we should help the poor. Ryan, a Catholic, answered that his emphasis on economic growth, upward mobility and opportunity for all is how, as House speaker, he puts that teaching into practice.

Not all Catholics liked this answer, with some criticizing Ryan's support for “trickle-down economics” and arguing that a focus on economic growth doesn’t satisfy the church’s social teachings because policies that advance growth treat the poor as an afterthought.