There’s a good deal of new research that connects things like happiness and satisfaction to experiences rather than to material goods. If you want to be happy, the advice goes, buy experiences, not things. There’s some truth to this, of course, but the reality is a bit plex. After all, don’t you also have “experiences” when you use “things”? In fact, I want to take a moment to write a brief note of thanks for a little material item that...

Where can people turn when technology eliminates their jobs? Greg Forster argues the answer is the “church.” Forster offers five things the church can be for those whose jobs are eliminated or endangered by technological change: The church can be a place where people find their true identity. The church can be a place where people find healing. The church can be a place where people find wisdom and vision. The church can be a place of cultural entrepreneurship. The...

At The Stream, Jonathan Witt questions why nations with free economies have cleaner water. After all, wouldn’t it seem more likely that countries with heavy government regulations regarding the environment have cleaner water? An examination of the most polluted rivers and streams in the world paints a different picture. With only a handful of exceptions, the dirtiest rivers in the world are located within some of the most restrictive countries. In contrast, three of the top five cleanest streams orin...

“The bottom half of the world’s population owns the same as the richest 85 people in the world.” The stat was quoted last month in a report by the development organization Oxfam, but similar claims have mon.You’ve probably seen this statistic—or one like it—before in articles about economic inequality and assumed they must be somewhat true. But they aren’t. In reality, they pletely meaningless. One of the problems is that parisons are based on net worth (assets minus liabilities). If...

Series Note:Jobs are one of the most important aspects of a morally functioning economy. They help us serve the needs of our neighbors and lead to human flourishing both for the individual and munities. Conversely, not having a job can adversely affect spiritual and psychological well-being of individuals and families. Because unemployment is a spiritual problem, Christians in America need to understand and be aware of the monthly data on employment. Each month highlight thelatest numberswe need to know (see...

In Abraham Kuyper’s newly translated Scholarship, he explores the Christian’s role in the Economy of Wisdom. Addressing students of Free University in Amsterdam, he asks, “What should be the goal of university study and the goal of living and working in the sacred domain of scholarship?” Though he observes certain similarities with other forms of labor — between teacher and farmer, professor and factory worker — and though each vocation is granted by God, Kuyper notes that the scholar is...

Jordan Ballor Acton Institute Research Fellow and Executive Editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality Jordan J. Ballor was a guest on Austin Hill in the Morningin late January on the Faith Radio Network to discuss the morality of resource extraction and use. Should Christians support efforts to drill for more oil and the use of new techniques to draw more of these resources from the Earth, or should they push for a new approach to energy creation and...

I recently pointed to a helpful talk by Greg Forster to highlight how understanding economics is essential for developing a holistic theology of work, vocation, and stewardship. Economics connects the personal to the public, and prods our attentions and imaginations to the broader social order. In doing so, it alerts us to a unique and powerful mode of Christian mission. In his latest book, Flourishing Faith: A Baptist Primer On Work, Economics, And Civic Stewardship, Chad Brand expands on this...