Is a Catholic perspective on economic policy possible?

In the current Commonweal, I review two new books: The Option for the Poor in Christian Theology, edited by Daniel Groody, and United States Welfare Policy: A Catholic Response by Thomas Massaro, SJ.  As an inducement to reading the whole thing, here's the opening:

Two fears make Catholics wary of faith-based arguments about economic policy.  First is the fact that policy questions turn on the exercise of prudential judgment rather than bright-line moral absolutes.  It is easy to draw lines in the abortion debate based on the church's teaching;; it is significantly more difficult to draw such lines when the debate concerns the most effective way to address poverty.  Bishops may deny Communion to a prochoice politician, but can one imagine them doing the same to an economist?  Second, in light of this uncertainty, efforts to connect the church's teaching to specific economic policies arae often viewed more as partisan posturing than faithful discipleship, exacerbating a fear that too much noise about the political here-and-now may drown out the gospel's proclamation of a world to come.