Date posted: 04-26-2022
Estimated Reading Time : 5:00
Richard Harris is executive director of the Truth & Liberty Coalition. We seek to educate, unify and mobilize believers in Jesus Christ to affect the reformation of nations through the seven mountains of cultural influence.
The Bible has a lot to say about money and economics. Its timeless wisdom applies not just to our personal finances, but to the finances of our government and of our nation.
Inflation is skyrocketing and interest rates are on the rise. Many people are asking why these problems are happening and what can be done to fix them. The answers can be found right in the pages of Scripture.
What is Inflation?
Inflation is the increase in the price of goods and services that happens when the value of money shrinks – when the value of a dollar goes down. When the value of a dollar goes down, a person selling a product or service has to charge more to get the same profit. It also means wages and salaries don’t buy as much as they did before.
What causes the value of money to shrink? Well, money is just like any other commodity – it “can rise and fall in price, depending on supply and demand,” says noted economic columnist John Steele Gordon.
The more of a certain commodity that is available on the market, the less each item of that commodity is worth.
Take for example a gallon of milk. If, all of a sudden, we had a huge influx of milk into the marketplace – tons and tons of gallons of milk – every gallon of milk would be worth less.
That’s how it is with money, too.
What Causes Inflation?
“Governments have only three ways to fund operations,” says Gordon. “They can tax, they can borrow, and they can print.”
Over the past two years, the U.S. Federal Reserve printed money at an alarming rate to fund government stimulus packages and various spending bills. Eighty percent of all dollars in circulation today were printed during the last two years!
In turn, Congress acts like money grows on trees, continually spending and borrowing as if there are never going to be any consequences. The Biden administration is also spearheading a proposed expansion of the IRS, no doubt to glean even more taxes from a shrinking middle class.
In the last 3 years, Congress has increased spending from $4.4 trillion to more than $7 trillion! To keep up, the Federal Reserve has had to print trillions more dollars. As a result, our nation’s debt now exceeds the incomprehensible sum of $30 trillion.
Things are unraveling so quickly, America is now on the brink of “stagflation,” a severe economic condition not seen since the Democrat Carter administration of the late 1970s. In his classic article, “Inflation in One Page,” economic journalist Henry Hazlitt identified the cause that was just as true in 1978 as it is today:
Inflation is an increase in the quantity of money and credit. Its chief consequence is soaring prices. Therefore inflation—if we misuse the term to mean the rising prices themselves—is caused solely by printing more money. For this the government’s monetary policies are entirely responsible.
Despite Democrat claims of a “Biden Boom” in the American economy, “by December 2021, consumer prices were up seven percent on an annual basis, the highest in 40 years, while producer prices were up 9.6 percent, the highest since that statistic has been compiled,” says Gordon. “And the expectation of further inflation is now deeply embedded in the economy.”
In fact, recent reports have set the rate of inflation at 8.5 percent. That means an average worker has lost about one month of his salary to inflation.
What Answers Does the Bible Have?
If our elected officials would follow biblical principles, we could turn the tide against inflation and put America back on sound financial footing.
The Bible says “the borrower is servant to the lender” (Prov. 22:7). For years, the United States has been floating a massive debt to pay for programs our current tax revenue won’t cover.
With an international financial realignment looming, things could take a drastic turn – and not in America’s favor. Fiscal responsibility and wise management of the nation’s finances would stem the tide and make America debt free again.
The Bible also teaches that we should live within our means (Heb 13:5, Prov. 21:5). Beginning with the pandemic-related stimulus bills, our government began printing and giving away money at an alarming rate. Rampant waste and fraud has exposed the folly of the government’s spending. Reining in spending may cause some short term discomfort, but would restore balance to our nation’s finances.
The Bible tells us not to covet (Exod. 20:17) – not to lust for things that we don’t have but be content with what we do have (1 Tim. 6:8-10).
The Bible says we should trust God to supply our needs (Matt. 6:33). Government cannot replace God. Stimulus packages and other government programs have led to a workforce shortage as people rely on the state for provision. God has already provided (Phil. 4:19) everything we need to be successful, and the wisdom to make good investments of time, effort, and finances.
If we would adopt those same philosophies and principles from the Bible to our national finances, we would prosper once again. It’s time for America to return to God as our provider, seek His wisdom on financial matters, and make our nation great again.
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