Economics

“Because both sides have noble intentions, the merits of the debate on minimum-wage laws and minimum-wage increases should be judged by Christians on empirical evidence that it will help, rather than harm, the poor.” - TGC

“1. Creativity and work. God the Creator tasked human beings with labor even in the Garden of Eden. This work allows us to refine, purify, and fructify His handiwork. While this does not make human beings co-creators – for only God created all things ex nihilo – it gives us a canvas on which to display the creativity God implanted inside all His children.” - Acton

“…millions of well-meaning people think it’s a virtual synonym for compassion. But socialists themselves are constantly retreating from their own handiwork. It’s socialism until it doesn’t work, then it was never socialism in the first place.” - IFWE

“This claim has made headlines in CNBC, Fox Business, Business Insider, CNN, Reuters, Newsweek, and the New York Post. It has also been shared tens of thousands of times on social media….Yet the claim that billionaire wealth has surged ‘since the beginning of the pandemic’ is flatly untrue.” - N. Review

“People have all sorts of reasons for taking a job and their reasons could be thoroughly cynical and selfish. …But even in a heavily regulated mixed economy like our own, we’re seeing millions of people behaving in ways that can’t be explained by selfishness (not the same thing as self-interest) or greed – the common critiques.” - Acton

“These paradoxes have a root cause. They all depend on a certain kind of economic model of practical rationality. They assume that the value of a human action can be identified with the expected value of the consequences of that action.

“First, when the terms are left undefined, they seem to describe “kind” and “benevolent” economic systems that will help the poor and raise people out of poverty. They seem equivalent to the good “social programs” in our republic. Second, there is a seeming connection with the early church as described in Acts 2:44-45 which legitimizes these systems in the minds of some Christians.” - Matt Postiff

“It is no coincidence that the twentieth century was the bloodiest century in human history. The ideas of totalitarianism and communism started in the universities and made their way into policy. These policies had devastating and unthinkable human consequences. Deaths resulting from direct government action against citizens in the twentieth century reached 262,000,000.” - IFWE

“Generally, protectionist policies are implemented in order to protect workers and industries, however, they also have the effect of throwing market incentives off balance. When a nation employing protectionist policies disincentivizes other countries from importing or exporting goods, their comparative advantage is ‘dulled’ ” - Acton