The Christian Worldview

GUEST: CAL BEISNER, author, Biblical Foundations for Economics

The government printing and spending trillions of dollars on social programs or paying able-bodied people to not work or taxing the income-producing to fund all manner of “entitlements”—food, health care, housing, education, child care, retirement—have become commonplace in American society.

Three weeks ago (Nov. 13, 2021) in part 1 of our program on economics, Cal Beisner, director of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, defined economics as “moral philosophy applied to man’s marketplace relationships.” In other words, one’s moral worldview will lead to certain economic policies.

For example, the moral judgment that “No one should go hungry in America” or “Everyone deserves a place to live” or “Health care is a human right” results in economic policies that feed, house, and care for people, even if the recipient is unwilling to contribute through work or payment.

And then there’s the view that work is oppressive and unjust, as in the Marxist worldview where the employer is seen as the subjugator of the employee, leading to redistributive policies by government that aim to achieve “equity”. Sound familiar?