Christian Economics in One Lesson is Dr. North's reworking of Henry Hazlitt’s classic introduction to economic thought, Economics in One Lesson. That book set the standard as an introductory economics book.
Nothing has come close to replacing it ever since it was first published in 1946.
Why is it necessary to replace a classic? There are several reasons. First and foremost, it was written in 1946. A lot has happened since then, including the publication of Ludwig von Mises’ Human Action (1949). Second, it was written under a strict deadline. Hazlitt had been given a six-week leave of absence, and he had to produce the book from start to finish. Third, he targeted a different audience: readers of his business columns. This one targets Christians. (Orthodox Jews are invited to come along for the ride.) Fourth, ethics are placed at the heart of this analysis: the deliberate breaking of the window. Hazlitt did not—not explicitly, anyway.
Christian economics must begin with the issue of ultimate ownership. This sets it apart from modern economic analysis, which begins with the issue of scarcity. Second, this leads to the issue of theft, which in turn raises the issue of ethics.
The ultimate form of causation in human history is ethical: right vs. wrong. Modern economists do not share this view. In fact, it goes beyond this. They openly reject it. They proclaim economic analysis as value-free—this is self-deception. It is a variation of an ancient temptation: “Hath God said?” Yes, He has. “Thou shalt not steal.” There are negative sanctions attached to this commandment. These negative sanctions are both inherent in the economy and imposed by God on the economy. Our attention to this principle, especially in regard to intervention by the State, determines long-term economic growth or decline. It is time for Christians to be better-equipped for paying such attention.
Gary North received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside. He served on the Senior Staff of the Foundation for Economic Education, in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, and was the president of the Institute for Christian Economics. Dr. North’s essays and reviews have appeared in three dozen magazines and journals, including The Wall Street Journal, National Review, The American Spectator, and others.
a rare insight into the direct relationship between ethics and economics
If you are not a “Christian” but you are an economist, or at least an armchair economist, this is a book for you. It’s not a treatise on Christianity, it is a treatise on the consequences of an economic system, that steals through legislated mechanisms - tracking the consequences of this and identifying the toolbox for such a break-in. The voices of Hazlitt, von Mises and Hayek can also be heard in ground of North.
This book gets four stars for centering all economic thought on ownership and theft. That concept is so important. North gives the lay person confidence that they don’t need a degree in economics or years of experience to know whether someone is stealing or not. While on the other hand, most other economists distract from the theft with lofty ideas of the greater good.
I wanted to give it five stars, but the format was a little wooden.
If you accept libertarian conceptions of the individual and private property as in alignment with scripture, then this book will probably be very compelling. If you don't, then this book probably won't be compelling. For both sides, this book will be a bit repetitive and also insightful in gaining a better understanding of what truly happens in an economic policy decision.
I like how North connected economics with the Bible. I think his incite is acute but his writing leaves much to be desired. Is there not an economist who can can correctly analyze AND explain in lain language?
This book is Gary North's rewriting of Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson. North uses the concept of the broken window fallacy, originally developed by Frederic Bastiat, and applies it to variety of economic situations showing the unseen consequences of the state interfering with the free market. North explains that when looking at economics one must look not only at the seen effects, someone getting hired to fix a broken window, but also the unseen effects, the window owner not being able to purchase other goods or services because his money has to be spend on window repairs.