Economics

Few economists take Karl Marx seriously. His economics, they say, is riddled with basic fallacies, and his political philosophy is more religious than scientific—the product of irrational conviction more than impartial observation.

My last two posts introduced you to Cornelius Vanderbilt, an entrepreneur widely recognized for his contributions to the railroad industry. He also had success in advancing steamboats in New York waters and steamships across the Atlantic Ocean.

According to a report from the World Economic Forum, "Today's business leaders … are looking beyond quarterly growth targets. But there is less clarity—either from the private sector, among regulators or among investors—about what this new era entails for business."

Minimum wage is supposed to help poor people. That's why two out of three Americans support raising it to $10 an hour. And that's probably why President Obama, during his State of the Union Address last Tuesday, called for raising it by more than 20 percent.

As a reader of this blog, I'd imagine you spend a significant amount of time trying to convince non-political people and non-economic people that they should care about politics, and they should know basic economics. You also probably spend a great deal of time arguing with self-identified "progressives" who do care about politics and do seem to have a basic understanding of economics, and yet have come to radically different conclusions.

Economic analysts are a lot like meteorologists. They take available data, make assumptions, run models and make their best guess on what is about to happen. Unfortunately, they are just about as accurate. It's always good to have an umbrella on hand, just in case.

Many corporations engage in philanthropy. At Whole Foods, it is an intrinsic part of their business model. The company has added value to millions and sparked a movement toward organic and local food.

Each year, almost 50 percent of Americans make New Year’s Resolutions. Most often, these include things like losing weight, working harder or spending less. Whatever they may be, the common thread among them is that they involve things we deeply care about—things we think deserve more of our time and effort.

In recent years, the purported effect of oil speculators in raising the price of oil has sparked much debate and concern. Pundits of various political bents have sought an explanation for the rising price of oil among the activity of speculators, and legislation has recently been considered by Congress that would limit the profit margins of oil speculators with the goal of suppressing costs.

On Fridays, we bring you the best of our blog and the best of the web. This week's roundup includes thoughts on international development, a look at Walmart's real impact, sacrifice in free markets and more.

Every year, during the third week of November, American grocery stores are swarming with patrons as families prepare today's Thanksgiving meals. As we consider and give thanks for all of the things we take for granted, we ought to be thankful for capitalism.

On Fridays, we bring you the best of our blog and the best of the web. This week's roundup includes the wisdom of Henry Hazlitt, a lesson from "Chariots of Fire," post-election commentary and more.

One hundred and eighteen years ago this month marks the birth of the great economic thinker and communicator Henry Hazlitt. Hazlitt is probably best known today for his book "Economics in One Lesson," but his life also provides valuable personal lessons on how to advance the free-market ideas that make for a better world.

On Fridays, we bring you the best of our blog and the best of the web. This week's roundup includes Paul Ryan on poverty, Bono on capitalism and humility, Arthur Brooks on the morality of free enterprise and more.

Through his concise analysis of a massive amount of data on entitlement expenditures or "transfers" in America over the past 50 years, Nicholas Eberstadt's "Nation of Takers: America's Entitlement Epidemic" connects the nation's growing dependence on government programs to negative changes in the character of both our government and our citizens.

In this video, John Stossel talks with Steve Forbes and Arthur Brooks about the moral case for free enterprise. When accused of promoting a system that hurts the poor, Brooks responds...

People who support free markets and limited government in our country often ask one another, "Why don't more people on the Left see how unsustainable something like cradle-to-grave entitlement systems truly are? Why don't more voters see the untenable path we're on?"

Last Thursday's AEI panel on "The Joy of Capitalism" reheated my enthusiasm for free markets with a foray into a classic text paired with insights fresh from the entrepreneurial oven. The evening offered an updated look at theologian Michael Novak's 30-year-old magnum opus, "The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism" and introduced two enterprising peers.

Yesterday Gov. Mitt Romney walked into a roomful of wealthy, elite, primarily liberal benefactors and foreign aid advocates to give one of his best speeches so far in the campaign season. The 17-minute address, well worth watching in its entirety, was animated by a foundational insight which Michael Novak first wrote about 30 years ago...

Capitalism is easy to defend, but hard to praise. While economists receive credit for demonstrating the pragmatism of capitalism, in the same breath, critics call their methods callous and cold.

Be sure to catch this Q&A between Marvin Olasky, editor-in-chief of World Magazine, and Arthur Brooks, the president of AEI. Throughout the interview, Olasky and Brooks discuss the meaning of "earned success," an atypical path to a think tank presidency and more.

With the passage of Ron Paul's "Audit the Fed" bill in the House recently, monetary policy is once again becoming a mainstream political issue. And it's about time. For decades, Americans have stood idly by as inflation destroys the value of their hard-earned savings with the sole purpose of pushing economic problems further into the future.

There is a subtle, but at times blatant message which has flowed from the pulpits and lecterns in our churches and universities. The message is this: Our world is increasingly poor, accelerated primarily by the rise of global capitalism and its chief culprit, "big business."

Beauty is not often on lists with virtues like peace, honesty and humility. But true beauty is a virtue—it is awe-inspiring, praise-evoking and brings the kind of joy that humans seek for fulfillment. When I think of life's best moments, beauty is involved; a sunset over Lake Michigan, my wife's smile, a moving piece of music, my kids laughing, a good cigar.

When analyzing any social or economic system, the three most important words are, "compared to what?" Capitalism has its shortcomings. It has shortcomings because life has shortcomings in our own subjective evaluations.

Capitalism gets saddled with a lot of baggage that doesn't properly belong to it. Some of this is the result of ignorance of basic economics, some of it a poor reading of history, but most of it is due to a bad definition of capitalism. In the first post in this series I defined what I mean by the term...

The American Enterprise Institute is hosting a $50,000 video contest! The challenge: Make the moral case for free enterprise in two minutes or less in a persuasive, creative, quality video.

In the previous post I talked about the honesty of capitalism; people are not angels. A capitalist economy recognizes this fact, and our greed doesn’t ruin the system. Closely related to the honesty about people's motives is capitalism's humility about people's limits.

Once the public realized that NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg wasn’t joking about his plan to ban the sale of large sugary drinks within city limits, people responded with fierce (and predictable) uproar. Left looking like a loser, Bloomberg is obviously out of touch with the “leave me alone!” mentality of average Joes...

Free markets are probably the greatest force for peace in history. There are three distinct ways in which capitalism promotes peace. The simplest way in which capitalism is peaceful is by its abstention from direct acts of violence.

In previous posts here at the Values & Capitalism blog, I’ve expounded on the spiritual and moral virtues of things like “work” and “vocation.” Such seemingly self-evident blog posts should not be necessary in a society so steeped in a rich tradition of entrepreneurial activity, an honorable work ethic and staggering generosity to those in need around the globe.

The subprime mortgage crisis rocked America’s confidence in large financial institutions and the agencies that regulate them. Prominent among the nearly 20 banks that accepted government assistance to avoid going under in the subsequent years was JPMorgan Chase...

American policy is at a crossroads. Though 70 percent of Americans claim to love American free enterprise, the size and scope of government continues to grow. This is not a result of Americans loving free enterprise nostalgically, as the Left asserts.

Are there any moral arguments for capitalism? Take note of two pieces out this week by Arthur Brooks of AEI and James Otteson, professor of philosophy and economics at Yeshiva University in New York.

In my previous post, I summarized Friedman’s beliefs about the Federal Reserve, its proper role, and how its failure is what leads us to economic problems (not capitalism). In his following chapter, “Cradle to Grave,” Friedman explains how the welfare state began to take off during the FDR administration.

This week Learn Liberty introduced this thought-provoking new video featuring Matt Zwolinski, associate professor of philosophy at the University of San Diego, and co-director of the university’s Institute for Law and Philosophy. Dr. Zwolinski also founded BleedingHeartLibertarians.com.

The makers of Instagram, a popular iPhone photo-sharing app, recently sold their company to Facebook for $1 billion. The company was founded a mere 18 months ago by a pair of twentysomethings. It has only 12 employees and brings in no revenue. No big deal.

The Pew Research Center released a poll in late December (way to bury it) updating a regular series on people’s opinions of capitalism, socialism and libertarianism. The responses of young people aged 18-29 particularly interested me and seemed fitting to discuss here.

In this recent op-ed by Sen. Jon Kyl, he describes the "correlation between prosperity and economic freedom," and he quotes one of our eight books, "Wealth and Justice..."

Andrew Rosenthal’s recent blog post discussing the decline in the jobless rate from 9.1 last summer to 8.3 in February suggests that a “new labor movement” could improve the lives of the working poor in the service industry.

Kurt Jaros is walking us through Milton Friedman's "Free to Choose." Below are the links to each of his pieces.

A number of my thoughtful, Christian friends have become (or nearly become) distributists as we have moved through college and into life. This is a sort of “third way” economic model advocated decades ago by G.K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc, somewhat between capitalism and socialism but not yet mercantilism or the sort of gunked-up interventionist economy America has now.

A couple weeks ago I wrote about the introduction to Free to Choose by Milton and Rose Friedman. In this post, I will explore some of the points from the first chapter, “The Power of the Market.” Friedman begins the chapter by explaining the difference between a command and a voluntary economy.

Last week, my exceptionally qualified and talented friend encountered a professional conundrum. She posted on Facebook that had received an offer for a great job after graduation from law school that—unfortunately—did not come complete with a salary.

A recent article in New Scientist discussed the "odd phenomenon in modern consumer societies," suggesting that people place greater value on things they make themselves. This would seem to contradict the precept that we are willing to pay more for the convenience of prepackaged goods.

I am a student at Messiah College, and recently our academic establishment had the distinct privilege of playing host to two prominent members of the political community, Dr. Arthur Brooks and Mr. Jim Wallis, as they debated the issue of the morality of capitalism.

On November 30, 2011, Arthur Brooks of the American Enterprise Institute and Jim Wallis of Sojourners debated the morality of free enterprise at Gordon College.

I attended last month’s V&C event “Left, Right and Christ,” and there’s one characterization by Lisa Sharon Harper that I’m still stuck on. She repeatedly spoke about the ability of public policy to “bless” and “curse” certain populations...

At the Cato Institute's recent 29th Annual Monetary Conference, the moderator  introducing the famously-libertarian Congressman Ron Paul, pointed out that Paul is a medical doctor by profession. Having received his degree from Duke University, Dr.

The “Occupy” movement has brought about some recent discussion regarding the merits of capitalism, but its anti-capitalist arguments are nothing new. The protesters aren’t the first to characterize capitalism as a greedy and immoral economic system that benefits only the wealthy.

When I heard that Steve Jobs had passed away, the first person I asked for thoughts was Andy Crouch. Jobs was clearly a “culture maker” in multiple senses...

The Morality of Capitalism is a new compilation of essays from economic leaders around the world and throughout the last century who make a case for the moral superiority of capitalism as an economic system.

Recently, the Christian Post reported on two approaches to the ongoing budget reform process being advocated by two faith-based groups, Christians for a Sustainable Economy and the Circle of Protection.

A lot has been made about cheers from audience members at recent Republican debates at the mention of people dying.

Condemnation of affluence has become the dominant theme of leftist rhetoric in the Obama era.

The Atlas Network, Students for Liberty, and the John Templeton Foundation have joined together for The Morality of Free Enterprise Project.

Learn more about the Values and Capitalism project here.

I’m a simple guy. I like vanilla ice cream. I like baseball. I listen to classical music. I enjoy home-cooked meals and scaring the people of my residential neighborhood by taking my menacing-looking-but-utterly-harmless-to-a-fault Rottweiler for an evening constitutional.

How can Christians navigate the turbulent waters of politics and public policy?

Can it be a sin to not start a company?  Or to have an idea for a product and fail to bring it to market?

I recently had the opportunity to speak at a Faith & Law gathering on the topic, “Thinking as a Christian about Debt, Spending, and Taxes” alongside my friend, Sojourners Communication Director Tim King.

My exposure to “fair trade” products came slowly, beginning at a Coldplay concert in tenth grade when I first spotted Chris Martin’s “Make Trade Fair” arm doodles.

In fact, our event last night didn't even reach the level of  "shrill." Instead, it was a substantive discussion of both theology and faithful praxis, as well as engaging questions of specific policy proposals for solving America's debt crisis, including reforming the tax code, fixing entitlement

Jeffrey Tucker recently wrote an engaging piece on innovation centering on that most quaint of cultural staples, The Jetsons (“Pushing B

Examining the connections between religion and economic growth can be a tricky task. Thankfully, some great thinkers have stepped up to the challenge.

Christians love to bash the popular forms of idolatry.

My favorite columnist, Mark Steyn, made the great point earlier this year that it says a lot about the differences in cultural values between Europe and the United States that when people protest in the streets over there it is to demand more from the gov

Dr. Walter E.