Personal Stewardship and Spiritual Formation
August 12, 2006
Here is one of the best essays I have seen on the economic principles of Christian stewardship. I have never been comfortable with the “simple living” approach often taught in the church.
Kruse Kronicle: Theology and Economics: Personal Stewardship and Spiritual Formation
One of my favorite Proverbs is Proverbs 30:8-9 (NRSV):
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that I need,
or I shall be full, and deny you,
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or I shall be poor, and steal,
and profane the name of my God.As Christians there are only two relationships to material possessions. One is to be a steward for God and the other is to forgo material possessions altogether. There may be some who are called by God to forgo material possessions in pursuit of some unique call. That is always a small minority. The rest of us are stewards. The only choice we have is whether or not to be good ones or bad ones. Will we use them with the mind and heart of God or will we use them toward our own satisfaction? (Not that the two necessarily are always, or even frequently, in conflict. It is a question of ultimate loyalty.) I hear church folk boast about being good stewards because they tithe 10%. That is all good and well but what are they doing with the other 90% of God’s resources?
All this ties in with what I am learning about developing a Christian worldview. While social darwinism keeps telling us that the spiritual and the secular are two separate spheres of life that must not be allowed to intermix, the economic principles in Kruse’s essay do not admit to such a dichotomy. Makes sense to me.
Dave, an economic animal.
Losing our technological edge?
July 29, 2006
I read a lot these days about how we Americans are passing the technological torch to the Chinese and their cohorts who rim the Pacific basin. Here’s at least one economist who thinks otherwise.
Economics focus | Venturesome consumption | Economist.com
In praise of America’s fearless consumers of new ideas and products
DISMAL scientists are finding more reasons than ever to worry about the prospects for America’s economy—even though the country’s GDP somehow still manages to grow at a decent lick. Oil prices are high, of course; partly as a result, inflation is rising. Consumer debt is at record levels. America is borrowing from abroad on a gargantuan scale to finance its current-account gap. And the housing bubble may be bursting.
For a growing number of economists and policymakers, however, the greatest fear of all—not least because its long-term consequences may be so deep—is that America is losing its global lead in technology. In the battle to invent and innovate, China and India, in particular, with their gazillion-strong cohorts of engineering and science graduates, will soon overwhelm the dullards and liberal arts students churned out by America’s education system. Nor is this a uniquely American worry. You hear similar worries in Europe too, although there the fear is less of losing the lead than of falling even further behind.
Fear not. Our consumerism is riding to the rescue, opines author Bhide (with an accent on the ‘e,’ poor guy), and as a card-carrying Consumer I like to hear that.
No doubt, even venturesome consumers can overdo their enthusiasm for innovation, just as venturesome investors overdid it during the dotcom bubble. Yet, if Mr Bhidé is right—and a lot more hard data would do wonders for his case—then America’s policymakers should worry more about how to keep consumers consuming than about the number of science and engineering graduates, at home or in the East.
Dave, always willing to do his part to save the economy.
Kiva gets press coverage
July 25, 2006
You may (or may not) remember that some months ago I contributed to a small loan for a fellow in Ecuador to help him expand his computer service business. This was my first introduction to the world of microfinance in the developing world. I have been receiving reports from the loan recipient, and he has started repayment on schedule.
Kiva has since received good press coverage, and it appears that this has resulted in many others deciding to help fund loans to small entrepreneurs far from home.
The Kiva Chronicles: IntoContext II
This week was an acceleration of everything Kiva.
It started with a mention in the WSJ (thanks to GOOD Magazine) and hastened with a feature story in BusinessWeek. The BW article created a new level of public interest in Kiva from finance-oriented peoples. A brickload of emails were sent, and Fiona is catching up with those as I write this. Meanwhile, record loan dollars are flying through Kiva to working entrepreneurs in the developing world.
These articles, and the ensuing reaction, proved that the path is not too great between paper and web. These articles were read in living rooms, airplanes and bathrooms. Apparently, a great number actually got up from their seat, went to a computer and made a loan. It is turning out to be a record setting week and it’s great to be all together in one place to watch it happen.
The article goes on to explain the mechanics of screening loan applicants and directing funds their way. Compared to the way loans are administered in the developed world, the process is lean and streamlined, and it appears that it is working well, thanks to the Internet and the World Wide Web.
Dave, still marveling about the changes in this world of ours.
Will Washington shape the Internet?
July 12, 2006
Anything written by a “futurist” is automatically suspect, but this article does address a current hot topic: regulation of the Internet.
How Washington will shape the Internet - The Practical Futurist - MSNBC.com
After years of benign neglect, the Federal government is finally involved in the Internet — big time. And the decisions being made over the next few months will impact not just the future of the Web, but that of mass media and consumer electronics as well. Yet it’s safe to say that far more Americans have heard about flag burning than the laws that may soon reshape cyberspace.
A couple of observations come to mind. First, we might look at China’s efforts to regulate the Internet, which, after all, is a global phenomenon. In China, as I understand it, the Internet experience has been messed up for Chinese users without much impact on the rest of the globe. When governments intervene, the result is fairly predictable.
Second, Government meddling with the Internet in the U.S. is likely to have one heap of unintended consequences. Political and economic powerhouses are involved (think Google and the telcos), which means the war may quickly get messy. Fun to watch, maybe, but the result will no doubt hit our pocketbooks and put a crimp in the Net’s further expansion.
Dave, starting to sound like a futurist hisself.
The Dangerfield Economy
July 11, 2006
Why is there so much talk about our failing economy, mostly coming from Congress and the media, when the eyeballs at the Wall Street Journal see it so differently? Who to believe?
WSJ.com - Good Jobs at Good Wages
I wonder if part of the reason is that the gap between those near the bottom of the economic ladder and those near the top is widening. Pundits with populist leanings can find ample grist for their sky-is-falling mill. The business and financial community sees mostly the middle to upper part of the economy and concludes that there are good jobs at good wages.
The balanced view would seem to involve awareness of both viewpoints.
Dave, pontificating a bit again.
Bolton v Gore
June 26, 2006
Hear him!
How to save the world | Bolton v Gore | Economist.com
A question of priorities: hunger and disease or climate change?
TWO years ago, a Danish environmentalist called Bjorn Lomborg had an idea. We all want to make the world a better place but, given finite resources, we should look for the most cost-effective ways of doing so. He persuaded a bunch of economists, including three Nobel laureates, to draw up a list of priorities. They found that efforts to fight malnutrition and disease would save many lives at modest expense, whereas fighting global warming would cost a colossal amount and yield distant and uncertain rewards.
How can anyone disagree with the above? It’s sad that in this flawed world of ours, politics so often overrides common sense.
Dave, saddened, but hopeful.
Kiva update
June 22, 2006
You may remember that a month or so ago I invested a small amount toward a loan for a small businessman in Ecuador. I received this email update:
Dear David Ayers ,
This is an update on Puero y Asociados written by Luis Crespo:
Boris, es un profesional su sueno es trabajar en la investigación de la electrónica, de redes y hardware de computadores. Agradece a las personas que por este medio le permiten tener acceso a un crédito, nunca pensó que esto ocurriera que por el Internet pudiera tener la posibilidad de fundarse como cliente, en el Ecuador ni siquiera las personas que lo conocen ‘Bancos” le dan un préstamo para trabajar.Esta seguro que el crédito solicitado invertirá para atender sus necesidades de inventarios como discos duros, memoria y repuestos para atender de mejor forma a sus clientes espera poder generar al menos una plaza de trabajo para otra persona que el esta entrenando y pueda ayudar a que la comunidad sepa usar las herramientas tecnologicas y el Internet.Guayaquil, Junio 19/06Luis
Some of our partners choose to write their journal entries in the local language in order to keep their overhead low. If this journal entry is in a foreign language, please feel free to use an online translator such as Altavista’s Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com).
Thanks!
— Kiva Staff
Here is Ms. Babelfish’s translation:
Boris, is a professional his I sound is to work in the investigation of the electronics, of networks and hardware of computers. It thanks for the people who by this means allow him to have access on a credit, never thought that this happened that by the Internet it could have the possibility of being based like client, in Ecuador not even the people who know ‘ Banks “give a loan him for safe trabajar.Esta that the asked for credit will invest to take care of its necessities of inventories like hard disks, memory and spare parts to take care of of better form its clients hope to be able to generate at least one seat of work for another person who this training and can help to that the community knows to use the tecnologicas tools and the Internet.Guayaquil, June 19/06Luis
Makes sense to me, and I will try to respond to his “journal entry.”
Dave, maybe needing to brush up on his Spanish.
Clipper ships in the sky
June 17, 2006
Here’s a fascinating survey article from the Economist. During the Age of Sail, the world’s goods moved in slow motion in the holds of clipper ships. Today, goods speed around the world in the cargo containers of giant MD-11 freighter-jets.
The physical internet | Economist.com
21st-century clippers
Frederick Smith, FedEx’s chief executive, compares his company’s jets to clippers, the sailing ships that once carried cargoes on the trade winds. Mr Smith pioneered the air-express business in the early 1970s by delivering a few hundred parcels overnight to a handful of American cities using Falcon aircraft the size of an executive jet. At Memphis airport, the parcels were sorted on a table. Many of his contemporaries thought he was mad: who would pay to send packages by air? He almost went bust. But now FedEx has ordered a fleet of double-deck Airbus A380s to help cope with demand. Rival UPS has also placed orders for the huge new Airbus. Neither company wants any seats inside, just space for lots of cargo. If they were passenger airlines, UPS and FedEx would now rank among the world’s biggest carriers.
Watching a visionary like Frederick Smith create such a change in the world of commerce is fascinating to me. Maybe I dream about life in the Age of Sail, but what’s happening in my own age is much more exciting.
Dave, dreamer.
Is Capitalism Christian?
June 9, 2006
Michael Kruse, when he isn’t thinking about soccer, has some interesting thought on the relationship between Christianity and capitalism.
Kruse Kronicle: Theology and Economics: Is Capitalism Christian?
If the question is whether or not free market capitalism emerged from a society with a distinctively Christian ethos, then the answer would clearly be “Yes.” The ideas of human beings created in the image of God, linear time, progress, future orientation, and vision oriented ethics, were the soil from which capitalism grew. This is NOT to say that free market capitalism is the best of all economic systems that can, or ever will be, conceived. It is merely to acknowledge the roots from which it sprang.
In my business-building past, I suspect I have been guilty of idolizing capitalism; my only defense is that capitalism beats any other economic model that I know of.
Dave, putting Christianity first and capitalism second (I hope!)
Puero y Asociados
May 23, 2006
Let me introduce you to Kiva and the world of microfinance in the developing world. It is the story of Matthew and Jessica Flannery who are true believers in the power of small business development to change the lives of the poor.
The Flannerys claim that half the world’s population live on less than $2 a day. Most of these people live in developing countries and are self-employed. Microfinance provides financial services to those excluded from the formal financial system and team with microcredit/microloan programs to effectively boost the income-producing capabilities of small businesses run by the self-employed poor.
Now let me introduce you to Boris Puero Candela, proprietor of Puero Y Asociados in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Boris’s small business repairs computers and helps his clients connect to the Internet. He is seeking a $1,200 loan to add an employee and expand his business. Through Kiva and their microfinance partner MIFEX, $850 has been raised from online investors, including myself. The other day I sent along $100 to help make up the loan, which is to be repaid over 12-16 months. I hope to receive progress reports when the loan is granted, and I’ll pass along what I learn.
Dave, hoping this is all that it appears to be.
