Posts Tagged ‘christian economics’
#108 God’s Frameworks
#108 God’s Frameworks God made a complex world. Humans categorize it using frameworks. Frameworks. That’s what we teach in college level education. God made a complex world. Humans try to categorize it so we can understand it better. In the second session of my Econ class, I give framework assignments to groups of students. They…
Read More#107 Training is Not Education
#107 Training is not Education Training can effectively be measured by Return on Investment. Education cannot. Return on investment is an effective way to measure training. It’s a terrible way to measure education. The Wall Street Journal made three attempts recently to do this. The first article is titled, Is college worth the…
Read More#105 The Free Market Feeds the Poor
#105 The Free Market Feeds the Poor Father Robert Sirico has become the Lord Acton of our generation for telling Pope Francis that the free market feeds the poor. How else would there be enough “leftovers” to give away? I am a great admirer of Father Robert Sirico. He founded the Acton Institute in Grand…
Read More#104 Does God Want Us to Be Rich
#104 Does God Want Us to be Rich? God wants us to be rich, but that’s not the same as wanting us to be wealthy. God wants us to obey, which often results in wealth. That question was posed at a men’s Bible study this week. Good question. It’s always a good question when we ask,…
Read More#103 We’re All Agents
#103 We’re All Agents We all act as agents for someone. Christians should be agents of God’s calling, creating goods and services that enrich our neighbors. The First Organizational Structure In Exodus 18:13, we find the first story of organizational structure. It reads: “Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and…
Read More#102 The Debt Ceiling
#102 The Debt Ceiling Federal debt is stealing. It limits freedom. And, it assumes US Treasury bureaucrats are not fallen. The debt ceiling provides some protection against governmental excess. Life is full of grand promises that never come true. Sweets without calories. Energy that’s free. A perpetual motion machine. This week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen…
Read More#101 Inflating Inflation
101 Inflating Inflation Government policies are increasing inflation that harms the poor and violates the scriptural mandate about “honest measures. Inflation is one of the two evils of macroeconomics, along with its devilish brother: Unemployment. Inflation usually happens by an over-heated economy, but poor economic policy can also inflate inflation, and that’s what we’re seeing…
Read More#100 Takers Are Not Makers
#100 Takers Are Not Makers Conquerors (takers) seldom beat their swords into plowshares and become economic producers (makers). So, the Taliban will probably not build a sustainable economy. Early in your study of economics, you probably learned about opportunity cost. I advise my students to have only one dating relationship at a time. And,…
Read More#99 Faith and Freedom
#99 Faith and Freedom God gives us the freedom to choose or reject HIs offer of salvation. So we assume He wants us to be as free as possible in our economic lives. Freedom is not free Free is not freedom When I encounter someone who has served in the military, my common expression is…
Read More#98 The Myth of National Self-Reliance
#98 The Myth of National Self-Reliance Countries who cut themselves off from global trade become poorer through their own self-reliance. Discriminating against other countries is not Christian, nor is it economically fruitful. Early in the semester, I ask the athletes in my class to tell where they’re from and what denominational church they belong to. …
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