America Magazine quotes Eric LeCompte on the current global economic system's inability to eradicate poverty. Read an excerpt below, or the full article here.
The Weekly Dispatch: Wisdom from Pope Francis for the billionaires meeting in Davos
By Kevin Clarke
Eric LeCompte is the executive director of Jubilee USA Network, a coalition of religious, development and advocacy groups focused on debt relief for the world’s poorest economies. He believes “from a Catholic point of view,” there is good reason to look askance at some of the “false promises” coming out of Davos, including “the idea that artificial intelligence, better technology and the economic system as it is can deal with global poverty, deal with inequality, create the jobs we need as well as protecting our planet.”
“These are messages that the church has been skeptical about,” he says, “knowing that throughout human history, unless we have an ethical economy, no matter what technology we have or what new systems or new businesses we have, we’re not going to create the world that is…promised, where we all have enough.”
Davos is an experience, Mr. LeCompte says, where important ideas are discussed, business relationships secured and deals made, but in the end not much is practically achieved in terms of addressing global poverty and inequity. Its relevance has been even more diminished, he believes, since the arrival of tech giants on the Davos scene, who use the conference to showcase their digital wares and vision. To many it is merely “the best party in Europe.”
Read more here.
