Conclusion to Part 2
Updated: 1/13/20
Christian Economics: Teacher's Edition
Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters (Matthew 12:30).
There is no neutrality. Neutrality is a myth. This myth comforts covenant-breakers who imagine that they can accurately discuss anything without reference to God, Christ, and the kingdoms of God and man. They have created a gigantic educational system in terms of this myth. Then they forbid any reference to the Bible as in any way authoritative for any academic discussion.
There is no such thing as value-free economic theory. There is also no such thing as value-free economic decision-making. Everything that happens in history happens only in terms of God’s decree and also His interpretation of both His decree and historical causation. The world is connected covenantally. This includes the world of academic interpretation.
The free market is a gigantic auction. It is a series of simultaneous auctions. The morality of a local auction is the same as the morality of the free market. The rule governing the local auction is this: high bid wins. This is also the rule governing the free market. The person who insists that the auction process is inherently immoral needs to apply his moral assumptions to the local auction. There should be consistency. If he has no moral criticism of a local auction, then he should explain the existence of a moral disparity between a local auction and the international auction of the free market.
If he cannot do this, or else chooses not to, then you may safely dismiss his criticism of the free market as an immoral system. He has not thought through the details and implications of his moral system.
To understand the market process accurately, you must have some understanding of the biblical covenant. Humanistic economists do not understand the Bible or the covenant’s five-point structure. They are unable to respond effectively to critics of the free market who argue that the market’s system of distribution is immoral. Humanistic economists cling to the myth of neutrality. They are unable to justify the free market morally. They instead invoke economic efficiency. They argue that the critics of the free market do not occupy the high moral ground, not because they offer illogical arguments, but because there is no moral ground in economic analysis. That is because economic theory is all value neutral, they insist. This argument has persuaded few people who did not major in economics in college.
Then what about civil government? What role should it play in economic affairs? This is the topic of Part 3.
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For the rest of this book, go here: https://www.garynorth.com/public/department193.cfm