Catholic Social Teaching (CST) takes a rather cautious view toward the value of the ideas of Adam Smith, due to his emphasis on negative political and economic liberty. Detractors of Smith within CST point to what they consider to be deficiencies within his works: an impoverished moral anthropology, a lack of concern for the common good, and markets untethered to human needs. Defenders of Smith within CST tend to emphasize the material benefits that derive from Smithian institutions, such as economic growth, improvements in standards of living, and the new opportunities that arise from cultures focused on innovation. This paper argues that Smith's ideas have real value for CST. However, this value primarily lies in his moral psychology. While not denying the dangers of business activity for our moral lives, Smith also helps us to understand the possibility of the moral corruption of those who wield political power, thus providing an indirect defense of political and economic liberty that coheres with important Christian ethical notions found in CST. This is the case even though CST does not consistently recognize concerns surrounding the dangers of wielding political power-and thus Smith's arguments offer real challenges to CST as well. This paper further suggests that these basic insights are relevant regardless of one's favored institutional arrangements.

Managers in business settings have to make decisions every single day about, among other things, personnel, contracts with vendors and suppliers, short-and long-term strategies, the organization and structure of their firms, investments in research and development, and myriad financial matters-all the while staying within the parameters of the law. To make these decisions in a way that keeps a small-or medium-sized firm competitive and profitable in a relatively small market is hard enough; to do so for a large firm in a complex, globalized marketplace that is constantly changing requires immense savvy, skill, and luck. Business ethicists offer the reasonable concern that, in addition to making decisions that keep firms competitive and profitable within the law, managers ought also to make decisions that are informed and guided by ethical concerns, such as consideration for consumer and employee health and well-being, the needs of vulnerable populations, the preservation of the natural environment, and the stability of communities. After all, markets, especially relatively free markets, are permissive of all sorts of behavior, even when constrained by some laws, regulations, and customs, and business managers, so the story goes, ought not to pursue profit at any cost-even if they can do so legally and/or customarily.

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