I do think that the Pope did himself a disservice by getting too specific when critiquing particular economic theories in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium. On the one hand I'm not sure that the unregulated "trickle-down" form of capitalism he criticizes really exists today outside of Hong Kong, if even there. There is a problem of inequality and unethical business practices on a world wide scale, but honest people can disagree on how we got to where we are, and whether government interventions helped, hurt or even was a factor in causing our current crisis. The other problem is that the controversy distracted from the larger message of the exhortation which challenges the Church to pursue Her mission to evangelize the nations with zeal. Pope Francis is calling us not to simply stay stuck in a maintenance mode of operation that is content to keep the institution running without really understanding what the institution is meant to serve. His words on economics are a small, though important, part of the exhortation that need to be read in the wider context of a varied, far reaching document.
In the end Pope Francis is saying nothing that can't be found in the Church's social teaching. The Church in the past has condemned socialism, and the current Pope himself has said the Marxism is "dead wrong." But the market economy is the prevalent form in the world today, and needs to be critiqued in the light of the Gospel. Again, I use the word "market" without the modifier "free" because I don't believe that laissez faire, which is often condemned by progressives, has existed, in the U.S. anyway, since at least the days of Teddy Roosevelt's trust busting crusade in the early 1900's. Does this mean we are living in a perfect world? No, and it is important to let the Pope's words stir our hearts and a spark debate that can hopefully lead to real conversion in the society and culture at large.
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