Economics for Prophets: A Primer on Concepts, Realities, and Values in Our Economic System

by Walter Owensby

Overview

This is a print on demand book and is therefore non- returnable.

While many people think that the role of the biblical prophets was foretelling the future, the biblical emphasis, says Walter Owenbsy, was clearly much more on their role as forthtellers of God's message in troubled times. Indeed, much of their message had to do with how economic realities of the day affected the lives of people and the nation.

In our time as well, faith has something to say about such things. That does not mean posing as economists when we are not. But it does mean knowing enough about the way our economic system functions to be able to identify the moral issues at stake within it and to enter responsibly into the public debate about the economic choices that lie before us.

Owensby has written this book to help Christians take part more confidently and effectively in the dialogue on ethics and economics. Economics for Prophets is an introduction to the subject (it assumes no previous exposure to economics studies or jargon) that takes a helpful three-step approach. It explains some of the basic concepts of our economic system, explores how these concepts function in the real world, and critiques both the concepts and their practical working out from a biblical-theological-ethical perspective.

Understanding economics can help Christians function as prophets in the true biblical sense, says Owensby — as socially aware believers who emphasize not foretelling the future, but forthtelling God's message to the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802803573
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	05/01/1988
Pages:	220
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

Table of Contents

	Foreword	vii
	Preface	x
	Introduction	xiii
Chapter 1	Economics as Struggle, Freedom, and Responsibility	1
I	Concepts: Underlying Principles of Market Economics	1
II	Realities: The Moral Dilemma of Economic Growth	9
III	Values: Protestantism and the Capitalist Way	13
Chapter 2	The Role of Capital in the Market System	24
I	Concepts: Property and Capital	24
II	Realities: The Youngstown Story	30
III	Values: Biblical Faith and Capital Accumulation	33
Chapter 3	The Role of Labor in the Market System	42
I	Concepts: Labor, Workers, and Employment	42
II	Realities: Women in the Labor Force	48
III	Values: Work as Doctrine and as Practice	51
Chapter 4	Big Business and the Transformation of Capitalism	57
I	Concepts: Imperfect Competition in an Imperfect World	57
II	Realities: Transnational Corporations and Less Developed Countries	65
III	Values: Social Accountability as a Moral Issue	72
Chapter 5	The Old-New Economics and the New-Old Economics	81
I	Concepts: Changing Ideas about Economics	81
II	Realities: The New-Old Economics	90
III	Values: The Ethical-Economic Implications of the Military Buildup	97
Chapter 6	Sharing in Economic Society: The Problem of Distribution	102
I	Concepts: The Theory and Practice of Distribution	102
II	Realities: Income and Wealth in America	105
III	Values: The Christian Struggle with Class	117
Chapter 7	The Trading Game: The Economy Goes Global	127
I	Concepts: Concepts about Trade	127
II	Realities: Real-World Trade--Open Doors and Barricades	133
III	Values: In Search of Justice	141
Chapter 8	Banking on Money	151
I	Concepts: The Meaning, Making, and Managing of Money	151
II	Realities: The Global Debt and Banking Crisis	158
III	Values: Money as a Moral Matter	167
Chapter 9	The Intentional Economy	174
I	Concepts: To Plan or Not to Plan--Is That the Question?	174
II	Realities: The Industrial Policy Debate	178
III	Values: The Creation of the Present	188
	Questions for Discussion	195