The modern concept of economic development in the economic science and the church's social doctrine

Abstract

This article describes briefly the changes suffered by the concept of economic development before the Second World War until the last decades. The report produced by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress represents the current concept of economic development and proposes several changes in the way the economy and the society are measured. The most important concern of the commission it is make the new measurements to be closer to the households’ reality. This kind of preoccupation it is shared by the Church’s Social Doctrine, because the economics should help people to achieve their goals, what is easier when the metrics are really related with what is relevant to these goals. However, the concept developed by the commission is still restricted to the material dimension of life, what is important to determine quality of life and the economic development in some aspects, but insufficient to help people to achieve their most important goal: a truly happiness.