Christianity & Economics (Part Four)
By Aaron Hanson
(From the October - December 2019 issue of VOX)
“The gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. … It measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.”
Some of us may remember waking up one morning in July 2016 to the news that Ireland’s economy had grown by an astounding 26% in the previous year. Those who did not notice could easily be forgiven: it had more to do with the profits of multinational corporations than tangible improvements to people’s lives. And yet – on paper – Ireland prospered in 2015. If prosperity had been measured in some other way, the numbers might have told a less flattering tale.
The way we define economic success makes a big difference to what sort of world we are heading for. It matters that our understanding of success is shaped by Christian principles. Economist Joseph Stiglitz says, ‘If we use the wrong measures we will strive for the wrong things.’ There is strong evidence that prevalent conceptions of success are moving the world in a questionable direction.
In particular, we need to question the importance placed on abstracted ‘economic production’ and growth. This emphasis is seen as indisputable despite the scepticism with which previous generations of economists (e.g. J.S. Mill) regarded limitless economic growth. Consider, for example, the debate surrounding the UK’s 2016 EU referendum.
Such a conclusion only begins to make sense if ‘the economy’, as measured by statistics such as GDP, really measures prosperity for ordinary people. And yet ‘growth’ and ‘wealth’ are fickle concepts. If two friends who look after one another’s children decide to monetise their arrangement and pay one another, the economy grows on paper while the real world remains entirely unchanged.
And even where growth of economic production does indicate genuine improvements, there may be strings attached. For example, the greater per capita wealth of the USA compared to many European countries should be considered alongside the fact that Americans tend to have fewer holidays and to work more.
“God measures a society, Jesus says, not by the size of its GNP or by the efficiency of its markets, but by the quality of its relationships.”
What is the alternative? What other measures of prosperity may be used to supplement ‘wealth’? ‘God measures a society, Jesus says, not by the size of its GNP or by the efficiency of its markets, but by the quality of its relationships’. So writes Michael Schluter, founder of the Jubilee Centre, which advocates for theologically robust indicators such as how generous we are to others with our time. Other indicators include the level of indebtedness as a measure of whether we are living within our means or burdening future generations. A final group of indicators might focus on environmental wellbeing, lest we forget the ‘birds of the air’ or disregard the natural economic boundaries of living on a finite planet.
At Jubilee Farm, County Antrim, we seek to put these principles into action, by using farming practices that work with nature rather than against it, and by paying all staff an equal living wage to reflect the equal value we place on different contributions. To paraphrase Managing Director Jonny Hanson, we are aiming for a world where the economy serves people and places, rather than the other way around.
This article was written by Aaron Hanson, with input from Matt Williams and Jonny Hanson; they are founding directors of Jubilee, an agri-environmental organisation based in Larne, Co. Antrim.
