Football Players or Pirates?

I don’t believe in complicating economic discussion more than is necessary. The Bible requires some form of capitalist society in the basic commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.” This command presupposes the institution of private ownership — private property as a divine institution — and sets up a fundamental protection against assaults on the right to …

Free Markets and Free Grace

In Rodney Stark’s very fine book, The Victory of Reason, he notes a problem with using the word “capitalism” in discussions of economics. He says capitalism “is very difficult to define, having originated not as an economic concept but as a pejorative term first used by nineteenth century leftists to condemn wealth and privilege. Adapting …

A Very Pink Pig

One of the fundamental distinctions we need to learn to make is the one that exists between market entrepreneurs and political entrepreneurs. The terminology here is DiLorenzo’s — Rothbard made the same distinction, talking about free-market capitalists and state capitalists. The difference is not a slight one — think of a boar free in the …

A Fat Roll of Twenties

I was speaking with a friend the other day about some of the economic muddles that our sorry republic is currently being pelted with, and he said something like, “But isn’t it true that our health care system is broken?” Well, yes and no. Big chunks of it, like Medicare, are not so much broken …

Exactly So

When Scripture prohibits adultery, this presupposes the validity of the bonds of marriage. Without marriage, there is no such thing as adultery, and the prohibition becomes nonsensical. These marriage bonds are established by God (“what God has joined together”) and are to be recognized by the state. When the state refuses to honor the institution …

Real Wealth Hasn’t Gone Anywhere

In these, the golden years of congressional farce, we need periodically to be reminded of a few basic economic realities. Here is just one of them. I will try to offer up others from time to time, but I keep getting distracted by the glorious theatrics all arouund us. It is hard to keep my …