The Acton Institutes three-volume series on the Foundations of Economic Personalism contributes much to the dialogue between theology and economics. This article, however, identifies a number of shortcomings. These include an overly individualistic bias and a reliance on the Austrian school of economics that are not consonant with Christian and especially Catholic social thought on economic life. There is a certain naivetabout the philosophy of science and an artificial bifurcation between economic life (where values are assumed to be subjective) and the rest of life (where objective values are endorsed). The dialogue between theology and economics is badly needed, but it requires a strong dose of self-criticism from all its participants.
Daniel K. Finn, "The Foundations of Economic Personalism: Promise and Peril," Journal of Markets & Morality 6, no. 2 (Fall 2003): 599-615