The irritation of some of the Anglo-Saxon press, because Pope Francis has criticized the neoliberal Economics , has given me food for thought. In his apostolic exhortation of last November, the pontiff made a strong statement: "We can no longer rely on blind forces and the invisible hand of the market. Growth in equity demands something more than economic growth, even if it presupposes it [...] The Economics can no longer resort to remedies that are a new poison, as when it seeks to increase profitability by reducing the labor market, thus creating new excluded persons".

How much ink has flowed on Adam Smith's "invisible hand" since 1759! For Smith and many who followed him, this spontaneous order born of sympathy-empathy, rational egoism or skill, not only shapes the economic order, but should also regulate social relations. Others, however, point out that this supposed natural equilibrium lacks any ethical foundation. This is precisely where the Pope's exhortation is situated.

Our country is in a socio-political context that has facilitated an extraordinary progress (no doubt about it), which imposes on us, on the other hand, some laws that are very strict and are not discussed. Assuming such rules, how to pay the debts, both public and family, that devour the national patrimony and staff with accumulating interests that drown us? By increasing income, they say, by increasing exports (so is tourism), which requires reducing costs. And since the currency cannot be devalued (the recipe of yesteryear), we can only reduce salaries or shrink the workforce, while waiting for that "invisible hand" to come to our aid and get us out of the pitfall.

Three weeks ago, the last "Pedralbes Dialogue" (Argandoña, Lozano and Torralba) exceeded the expectations of attendance. They debated on "Spirituality and business", a topic perhaps new here, although with a charter at Harvard. The Pope is not so far off the mark when he calls for politicians "who are truly concerned about society, the people and the lives of the poor". This is no time for short-sighted interests. It is time to get seriously involved in the moral rearmament of society.