Th History of Christian Political Economy

Erik W. Matson and Jordan Ballor have done a great service to the church with their book, A History of Christian Political Economy: From the Patristics to the Present. Some Christians place greater weight on the theologies of church fathers because they assume that being closer in time to Christ, they held to a more pure theology. So, it's important to know what they thought. 

Amos does not condemn the US

The evangelical left loves to use the book of Amos to bludgeon conservative Christians, the vast majority of evangelicals, who promote capitalism. After all, they say, does not this passage from chapter six describe the luxury of the American lifestyle?

4 Those who recline on beds of ivory

And sprawl on their couches,

And eat lambs from the flock

And calves from the midst of the stall,

5 Who improvise to the sound of the harp,

And like David have composed songs for themselves,

6 Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls

While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils,

Yet they have not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.

The High Cost of Free Healthcare

 

One of the main concepts in introductory economic classes is that most things that people value are scarce. That's why we pay money for them, unlike air. And money is nothing more than our saved labor, services we have rendered to others in the past. In the market, we merely exchange services. 

Healthcare is no different. Doctors and medicine are scarce. That's why we pay for them. The US  suffers from an artificially large scarcity due to regulations, but even counties that offer free healthcare face scarcity. In the US, medical care is very expensive because of the artificial shortage caused by regulations and partly because we can afford it. We ration that scare resource though high prices.