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

~ Jay W. Richards (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Jay Richards understands the objections to capitalism, and here explains why they do not convince him. The empirical findings revealed in Money, Greed, and God run against those objections." (Michael Novak, Chair in Religion and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute )

"Money, Greed, and God is both thoughtful and important." (Washington Times )

"In Money, Greed, and God, Jay Richards has written the definitive case for capitalism, a crisply written and incisive discourse on wealth and poverty, money and morality for the 21st Century." (George Gilder, co-founder of the Discovery Institute and author of Wealth and Poverty )

In Money, Greed, and God, Jay Richards shows us . . . a capitalism grounded in the truth about human beings as free, morally responsible, co-creators charged with dominion and stewardship of the earth by the loving God to whom we are all ultimately accountable. (Rev. Robert A. Sirico, President of the Acton Institute )

Product Description

Does capitalism promote greed? Can a person follow Jesus's call to love others and also support capitalism? Was our recent economic crisis caused by flaws inherent to our free market system? Jay Richards presents a new approach to capitalism, revealing how it's fully consistent with Jesus's teachings and the Christian tradition, while also showing why this system is our best bet for renewed economic vigor.

The church is bombarded with two competing messages about money and capitalism:

• wealth is bad and causes much of the world's suffering
• wealth is good and God wants you to prosper and be rich

Richards exposes these myths, and other common misconceptions about capitalism, and reveals the surprising ways that capitalism is, in fact, the best system to respond to the biblical mandates of alleviating poverty and protecting the environment. Money, Greed, and God equips readers to take practical steps in their own lives to conduct business, worship God, and serve others without falling into the "prosperity gospel" trap.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (May 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061375616
• ISBN-13: 978-0061375613
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,861 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richards on Rand, May 18, 2009

By	Jonathan Witt (Grand Rapids, MI) - See all my reviews

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.

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christianity and Capitalism Do Work Hand in Hand, May 15, 2009

By	C. Tang (Stillwater, OK USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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."

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Christian Defense of Free Markets, May 15, 2009

By	Michael R. Nothstine (Wilmore, Ky) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

(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 discusses the value of the entrepreneur in society. He offers some important thoughts on virtuous acts and behavior required of the entrepreneur. These thoughts counter the all too often repeated stereotypes of those who toil in business as greedy misers motivated solely by material accumulation. Richards says of the entrepreneur:

Unlike the self-absorbed, they anticipate the needs of others, even needs that no one else may have imagined. Unlike the impetuous, they make disciplined choices. Unlike the automaton, they freely discover new ways of creating and combining resources to meet the needs of others. This cluster of virtues, not the vice of greed, is the essence of what the Reverend Robert Sirico calls the `entrepreneurial vocation.'

The author also does a formidable job at dealing with a number of scriptural texts and providing the reader with a broader context of meaning. One example is the study he does on usury, which includes a lot of helpful exegetical analysis, but also solid background information from Church tradition and history.

This book is extremely important when one considers the current debates going on in churches and religious communities today. On many Christian campuses and seminaries the case for the free market is losing ground, or absent altogether. The author grasps and understands the arguments made by those who are hostile to the market and the religious backgrounds they come out of, and this helps his ability to respond. I wish this text had been available when I was in seminary. I have heard all of the myths and teachings Richards is so skilled at countering. The ability to think through and respond to the ramblings of the religious left is what makes this work valuable. In fact, the religious left will probably ignore this book rather than respond to many of the well thought out and ordered arguments.

It must be said that another important factor in this book, and one that is a must when coming from a Christian perspective, are the moral considerations and arguments made in defense of the market. Richards understands that for capitalism or free markets to succeed and flourish they must have a moral framework and hold a moral value for the believer. Even if one is however not a person of faith, it's hard to argue against a need for a moral component for business and industry given the current economic crisis.

Richards takes on figures like Ayn Rand, who celebrate selfishness over the defense of the other. The moral argument of course characterizes the basis of the Acton Institute's purpose and mission. It's an argument that given the times and circumstances should provide us with a greater opportunity to reach the larger culture, especially the culture of believers.

The Acton hand print is all over this book of course because Richards penned the book during his tenure at Acton. One would hope this work will flourish and change the thinking of so many who are in desperate need of economic reasoning and education. Even if one is not inclined to believe or rally around the arguments made by Richards it offers a nice balance to much of the economic branding offered up by the popular culture and religious left of late.

If nothing else the valuable critical thinking and writing the author offers reminds us there is an alternative to the kind of thinking that causes Jim Wallis of Sojourners to say the "great crisis of American democracy today is the division of wealth."