Economics

12 May 2008 Who is Helping the Poor?

FOX News - May 9, 2008 - By George RussellA Gulf in Giving: Oil-Rich States Starve the World Food ProgramUnited Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his top lieutenants on Monday are convening the first meeting of the U.N.'s Task Force on the Global Food Crisis. Ban says it will "study the root causes of the crisis," and propose solutions for "coordinated global action" at a summit of world leaders in June.Ban might want to consider convincing the oil-rich nations of the Middle East to provide more than the near-invisible amount...

06 May 2008 StatsCan omissions stir class war

Income redistribution by our tax and welfare systems ignored in earnings report With permission from Lorne Gunter, The Edmonton Journal, May 4, 2008 [picture from www.canada.com] I cannot for the life of me understand why Statistics Canada publishes income numbers that do not include money received by individuals from government, unless the nation's official number cruncher is deliberately attempting to fan the flames of class envy and reinforce the case for more and bigger social programs. On Thursday, StatsCan set off a maelstrom of media coverage with its release of a report on Canadians' earnings in the past 25 years. It said since 1980, median earnings among the top 20 per cent of Canadian earners increased by 16.4 per cent, while the median among those in the bottom 20 per cent decreased by 20.6 per cent.

12 Dec 2007 Two Tales of Trade for Teens

by Jon DykstraAs Christians we know that man is prone to all sorts of evil, but we often forget that man is also prone to all sorts of stupidity. Much damage is done by well meaning people who embrace a bad cause – they aren’t trying to do evil, just the opposite in fact, but evil is done because these “good” people are acting out of their ignorance. In Economics this well meant ignorance has often caused serious harm. For example, most of us would be against any sort of child labor. We abhor child labor, especially when the alternative is sending these same kids to school instead. But when the compassionate campaign against child labor moved Nike and Reebok to close plants in Pakistan and lay off 50,000 child workers in Bangladesh, these children didn’t go to school instead. The reason they were working in the first place was because they needed the very basics of life, so when they were laid off, thousands turned to prostitution, crime or simply starved to death.[1]

19 Oct 2007 Labour Relations in a Christian Framework

By Aren van dyke (for the Surrey/Cloverdale ARPA Alert) Having spent most of my working life as an employer but still keenly recalling my time as an employee, I have always had a great interest in how to find an equitable balance in that delicate and always shifting relationship which is to be found in the workplace. Only perhaps in the marriage relationship is there a greater potential for trouble and strife, and conversely also fulfillment, in our human interactions. The present strife, which surrounds us in the secular work place where employee and employer often square off against each other in a struggle for power, also leaves its imprint upon our attitudes. When people, who are committed Christians, deal with each other in labour relations, there we to often find discord, bitterness, and frustration. The words of Genesis 3vs.17, "cursed is the ground because of you, through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life" point to the harsh reality that sin introduced into the arena of work. I believe it is possible to find harmony. In order to find this harmony, I will attempt to focus on what Scripture has to say about our labour and its purpose in our life. My intention is to involve situations, which speak to all of us, and it is my hope that this article will lead to a better understanding of an often confused and bitter situation.