COMMERICAL LOGIC AND THE DOHA ROUND: WILL POPE'S ENCYCLICAL LETTER IMPACT GLOBAL TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

Karen A. O'Rourke, American University,Washington College of Law

Abstract

Abstract: Relying on the Church’s principles of social doctrine , the Encyclical Letter released June29,2009, underscore the needed policy focus to create new forms of engagement both at the level of international “private” economics and at the level of private -public partnerships that support international commerce and development. Emphasis is placed on the broad concepts of authentic human development within a new context of a fully humane global economy where forms of future commercial enterprise can be based on reciprocity and where commercial logic and the current notions of economic utility are not opposed to new forms of economic democracy. For Benedict XVI, the economic spheres of the global market are not ethically neutral. He speaks directly about the erosion of social capital and the need for cross fertilization of global business in measurable ways that promote new orders of economic productivity. He outlines not only to duties of economic subjects in the global economy but also to the key principles required in order to create new spaces within economic market activity where people can act on principles other than pure profits and that these principles can be met without sacrificing the production of economic value in the process. The Encyclical Letter calls for a new world authority and a new economic development model for the global market in the 21st century that are based on the synthesis of capital production, financial markets, social ethics and human dignity.