The Moral Grammar of Economics: An Empirical and Mathematical Framework for Jesuit-Inspired Social Justice

Arizmendi, Luis-Felipe (2026): The Moral Grammar of Economics: An Empirical and Mathematical Framework for Jesuit-Inspired Social Justice.

Abstract

In the contemporary world, disparities in income and wealth remain a persistent social and human concern, appearing to worsen with the imminent disruption of Artificial Intelligence and the potential displacement of labor. This paper develops a mathematical framework in which Jesuit-inspired principles—derived from Loyola (1548), Taparelli (1840), Arrupe (1973), and Francis (2015)—are translated into operational economic rules. We formalize concepts such as the Magis, human dignity, solidarity, and subsidiarity into binding feasibility constraints (Stone-Geary utility), inequality-averse welfare functions, and multi-level optimization architectures. Rather than proposing a religious economic system, the framework extends normative welfare economics within open market economies, dialoguing with modern institutional theory and market design. We present an empirical validation using a balanced panel of 172 countries (1963–2024), demonstrating that unconstrained market equilibria systematically violate the conditions for social sustainability. Specifically, we find that the “Solidarity Wedge” (state correction) is inelastic to market inequality (β ≈ 0.66), and that violations of subsidiarity (regional imbalances) statistically exacerbate national poverty

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: social welfare function; inequality aversion; subsidiarity; institutional economics; integral ecology; Jesuit social thought; market economics
• Subjects: A - General Economics and Teaching > A2 - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics > A23 - Graduate; A - General Economics and Teaching > A3 - Collective Works > A31 - Collected Writings of Individuals; B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B0 - General; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C0 - General > C00 - General; D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D63 - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement; P - Economic Systems > P1 - Capitalist Systems > P16 - Political Economy; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z12 - Religion

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