Christianomics: A blog on economics, politics, and law

There are those on the political left (both non-Christians and professing Christians) who claim Jesus was a socialist (1). They point to verses like Acts 20:35 as evidence the church’s mission to care for the poor should also be the government’s mission. “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” -Acts 20:35 While this sounds good on its face, this comparison misses a fundamental difference between the church and the government: freedom of association. “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, [NOT] reluctantly or under [COMPULSION], for God loves a cheerful giver.” -2 Corinthian 9:7 When you join a church, you do so because you want to. When you tithe or support missionaries, you do so because you want to. Yes, we are told to, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse,” (Malachi 3:10) , but no one gets fined or whipped or punished for refusing to tithe. Even if a bad church were to do such things, that church would not la...

The minimum wage is in the news again thanks to the Biden administration’s stimulus bill (1). While I’ve already written about the history of the minimum wage and its effects on the poor, I wanted to address the root source of the minimum wage fallacy: Karl Marx’ Labor Theory of Value. To put it simply, the theory says that someone should be compensated based on how hard they work. If you have an easy job and aren’t required to work very hard then you should be paid little. If you have a more difficult job and have to work hard at it, then you should be paid more (2). While this sounds good on its face, this assumption is very dangerous and can lead a country down the path of minimum wage laws, price controls, and government controls of production (socialism). --------------------------------- Meet Dr. Hank, an average (Level 5 out of 10), everyday brain surgeon. He has a good work ethic (8 out of 10) and a positive attitude (7 out of 10). As an average, everyday brain surgeon, Dr. Han...

"Prices are communication. Price controls are government censorship." -Russ Nelson One of the most important factors (and one of the most overlooked) aspects of free market capitalism is the utility of prices. Without know anything about the product, a high price can tell you something is rare or hard to make. It might also hint at the quality of two similar products. Price controls (most often associated with top-down socialism and communism) removes these features. And that’s when you excesses (when prices are fixed too high) and shortages (when prices are fixed too low).

  "In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”- Acts 20:35 I see Christians on the liberal side of the political spectrum pointing to verses like Acts 20:25, Luke 3:11, Galatians 6:2, 1 John 3:17, and Leviticus 25:35-38 as evidence that Christians should be voting for socialist politicians and policies. When I ask why they think socialism is the answer I’m told they believe we should be generous and that society is better when we take care of the needs of our neighbors. This results in less crime, homelessness, substance abuse, and mental health problems. Those are perfectly fair and reasonable things to want. In fact they are so reasonable that I, a firm believer in the superiority of free markets, agree across the board. So what’s the problem? The problem is these are merely goals. Goals with no clarification on the means of achi...