Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem

The twentieth century was witness to a great battle between capitalism and communism. Early in the twenty-first century it is clear that capitalism won a resounding victory. Yet many people living in victorious nations continue to be uncomfortable with capitalism. They see it as a system of economics, a way of life that transfers wealth from poor to rich, that exploits the planet, that is somehow inherently biased toward the few at the expense of the many. An increasing number of increasingly vocal Christians even claim that capitalism is at odds with the teachings of the Bible. After reading Jesus' words that "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" they determine that capitalism, which seems to be founded on just such a love, must also be evil. Could it be, though, that such claims are based on a misunderstanding of capitalism? Could all these people be battling against a mere caricature? Jay Richards thinks so and he dedicates Greed, Money, and God to dispelling untruths and replacing them with hard facts. Through it all he seeks to show that capitalism is not the problem, but the solution. Economics is undoubtedly a field that many of us take for granted. We may be able to define it in part, but rarely can we really explain it. According to Richards, economics is at its heart, "about us--what we choose, what we value, what we represent in language and symbols, how we interact with each other in a market, and especially how we produce, exchange, and distribute goods, services, risk, and wealth. Understand these things, and you're well on your way to knowing what you need to know about economics." A more traditional definition is this: "the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses." It is, then, fundamental to all we do. But how often do we think about it and how often do we do so from a distinctly Christian perspective? Money, Greed, and God is just such a study. Richards structures the book around eight myths, eight common misunderstandings about the very nature of capitalism. They are: The Nirvana Myth in which capitalism is contrasted not with a realistic alternative but with an unrealizable ideal. While we acknowledge that at some time God will triumph over all that is evil, we also know that in the here and now any system will necessarily be imperfect. And so we cannot rightly set our standards at perfection. The Nirvana Myth stood behind communism and its dream of building utopian nations where equality ruled. But the experiment was a dismal failure that cost tens of millions of lives. The Piety Myth in which we focus on good intentions rather than the unintended consequences of our actions. A contemporary example of this myth in action comes when we look at "fair trade." We are growing accustomed, I think, to being presented with the option of buying fair trade coffee, fair trade gifts, and so on. The promise is that when we do this we bring greater pr

I will cut to the chase - this is going to be a very, very positive book review. This is an excellent book, and I will explain why I am so fond of it in just a moment. But since I write a lot of book reviews, and the one negative thing I have to say about this book is something I have never said before, I will just get it out of the way up front so I can move on to the real review: I wish I had written this book. Quite literally, Jay Richards took the need for me to do something I was very serious about doing (some day) right off of my "to-do" list. A book for laymen of faith that provides a Biblical defense of free market capitalism is in tremendous need. John Schneider's The Good of Affluence" is a fantastic contribution (http://dlbthoughts.com/Articles.aspx?IDCol=226), but its focus is exegetical and theological. Dinesh D'Souza's The Virtue of Prosperity is delightful, but it is specifically contextualized to an era that was practically gone by the time the book was published (the dot com techno-affluence world). A slew of treatises exist that provide an underlying defense of capitalism, but the sad reality is that most books defending the morality of a free market ideology were not written by people of faith, or at least not people publicly identifying their faith-based presuppositions. The book concept I have been so excited to see is one that was (a) Written for an audience of laymen, (b) Written for an audience of professing believers, (c) Written with an underlying theological credibility and understanding, and (d) Written with a very specific economic expertise. Perhaps I was fooling myself to think I was the person to tackle such an endeavor, but I am happy (and sad) to report that my vision has now been fulfilled. For Jay Richards' new book is clear, highly readable, wonderfully written, Biblically literate, and economically irrefutable. In all serious, Richards has written a crucial, vital book. I only pray that it receives the audience it desperately warrants. I tend to be an overly-optimistic person, but I have been predicting the final nail in the coffin of the relationship between the church and today's "youth generation" for some time. I believe on the scholastic and doctrinal side of the faith, generations of in-fighting and dead religion have pulverized the chances of young people continuing on as "church people" once they reach full adulthood. On the pietistic side, a decade or more of insulting and inane attempts to reach the youth culture have backfired in dramatic fashion, as church "leaders" have found out the hard way just how good young people are at detecting phonies, even when they are wearing really cool Hawaiian shirts. My prediction is that the contemporary church's utter failure to speak to young "twenty-somethings" about the subject of career, money, prosperity, and ambition will be the final nail in the coffin of this relationship. No event will more solidify this than the church's complicity in present times wi

Richards is not a Randian, but he notes several positive things about Rand, not surprising from an author who explains that he was positively influenced by Rand. To clarify his position on Rand, Richards does not argue in this book that Rand defends misers. Quite the contrary. He discusses the fact that she makes pioneering entrepreneurs the heroes of her novels. Richards' complaints are that:(1) She defends selfishness; (2)she attacks the sacrificial ideal (common to the Judeo-Christian and broadly Western tradition); and (3) she argues that Christianity and capitalism are incompatible. Richards does say that readers might expect her to defend misers because of her praise of selfishness. He never says she did so. Here's what he says in the chapter on greed: "Despite Rand's official praise of selfishness, however, John Galt doesn't look anything like Ebenezer Scrooge or that fat, cigar-smoking, tuxedo-clad guy in Monopoly. On the contrary, Galt is a pioneer, a brave creator of wealth who pursues his vision despite powerful obstacles, including a malevolent state bent on destroying him. In fact, although Rand despised Christian self-sacrifice, Galt is suspiciously Christ-like. He preaches a message of salvation, founds a community, challenges the status quo and official powers-that-be, who hunt him down, torture him, but ultimately fail to conquer him. "To be sure, there are dissonant notes. His symbol is not a cross, but the dollar sign. The book ends with Galt and his lover tracing the sign of the dollar across a dry valley. But insofar as Galt's character works, it's because he contradicts the miserly stereotype that Rand's philosophy leads the reader to expect. In fact, none of Rand's best fictional characters fits her philosophy very well." Richards undoubtedly will have some lively conversations about all this at the various free market events he attends in the coming months. Followers of Rand will not see eye to eye with him on everything in the book. What many of them will welcome is Richards' skill at defending the free market to religious people turned off by the greed-is-good defense. Since the left has been working tirelessly in the past few years to sell Christians on the virtues of "compassionate" big government liberalism, Richards' book arrives none too soon. Richards distills the core arguments for a free and virtuous society superbly. Money, Greed, and God is highly readable and yet more incisive than many academic books on the subject. Disciples of the nanny state beware. Full disclosure: Richards and I worked together as fellows at Acton Institute and Discovery Institute, two think tanks dedicated to the free market.

The question whether Christianity and capitalism can work hand in hand has been asked ever since the idea of capitalism was expressed. In this book, Jay Richards addressed this very question in an intellectual approach. Often, Christians who do support capitalism and know that it is the best available system to alleviate much of the world's sufferings due to poverty are unable to articulate their position in an intellectual manner, as well as being consistent to Christianity. Such Christians, including myself, are unable to give intellectual rebuttals, while being consistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ, to misconceptions and objections to capitalism. Jay Richards has accomplished that in this book, and for that I consider it to be groundbreaking. I strongly recommend this book, particularly to Christians: whether you support capitalism or are sympathetic to socialism. As it is written in the Scripture, "in all your getting, get understanding."

(This review was written by Ray Nothstine and originally published on the Acton Institute Powerblog) The belief that the essence of capitalism is greed is perhaps the biggest myth Jay W. Richards tackles in his new book, Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism is the Solution and not the Problem. One reason for confronting this challenge is that many free market advocates subscribe to the thought that capitalism produces greed, and for them that's not necessarily a negative. But for those with a faith perspective, greed and covetousness are of course serious moral flaws. It's also the kind of myth that less articulate writers would rather not challenge, especially in this troubling economic climate. Richards does however have a skill for tightly honed logical arguments, and he not only is able to defend free markets but tear lethal holes into many of the economic ramblings of the religious left. He even takes on holy of holies like fair trade and Third World debt relief. Richards argues that the free market is moral, something that may come as a surprise to many people of faith. This book provides a crushing blow to those involved in the ministry of class warfare or those who wish to usher in the Kingdom of God through "nanny state" policies. The book divides into eight chapters, with each chapter discussing a common held economic myth like the "piety myth" or "nirvana myth." Richards says the piety myth pertains to "focusing on our good intentions rather than on the unintended consequences of our actions." The nirvana myth characterizes the act of "contrasting capitalism with an unrealizable ideal rather than with its live alternatives." Richards himself states, "The question isn't whether capitalism measures up to the kingdom of God. The question is whether there's a better alternative in this life." The influence of libertarian economist Henry Hazlitt and Wealth and Poverty author George Gilder are evident through out this book. But the overarching strength of Richards work is how he places the free market message into the context of Christian discussions and debate. Unfortunately before this response, many of the economic arguments by the Christian left weren't properly countered in popular mediums. Furthermore, the wanton excess of prosperity gospel advocates only fueled or provided ammunition for the religious left's rebuke of the free market. Richards also provides an argument of sorts through narrative in his book by contrasting his youthful naïveté with his more mature adult self. He points out examples where he dabbled with Marxist beliefs and what he called "Christian socialism." The reader is able to follow his progression of thought and study where he eventually comes to believe in the superiority of a free market system when it comes to economic sufficiency, but also for lifting and keeping people out of poverty. The chapter on greed and capitalism contain some of the most thoughtful and helpful arguments particularly when he di