For much of middle class America, 401ks are seen as good stewardship, and wise investing in the stock market as a way of attaining financial goods for oneself and the economy at large. But do these things we take for granted contribute to the overall good of the human person and society?
Jacob Imam, economist and executive director of New Polity, argues that not only are these things not necessary to a healthy economy, but that we should question whether stock ownership has any role to play in Christian life. Beginning with the example of medieval economic relationships, he and Grant discuss the difference between investment and speculation; the relationship between work and ownership; and how investment, properly understood, might dignify the labor of our neighbors rather than simply profiting from the work of others.
How would the way we invest have to change to bring us closer together and build the Kingdom God? Is retirement part of God’s plan for the human person? Listen in as Jacob and Grant discuss these and other challenging questions.
“To invest is to offer people a chance to make good use of their labor. In other words, it's a chance to dignify the labor of your neighbor. The idea here is that you are trying to build people up.”
Although we can invest, as Christians we must remember the goal of all earthly goods is to build up with kingdom of God
Medieval investment was a form of societas or personal relationship: the stay-at-home investor (stans) was invested personally as well as financially in the labor of the traveling merchant (tractor), involved in all stages of the business
There is a modern form of servility introduced in the ownership of a company that never existed in medieval relationships, because you are claiming to own the fruits of another’s labor rather than laboring alongside them
Companies in the Middle Ages were cooperatives where everyone invested and benefited relative to what they put in; ownership of another’s labor was categorized as slavery or servitude
Stock investments are more properly understood as speculation: i.e. buying something in order to hold on to it and sell it later when it increases in value
“The reason why we're able to charge for anything, morally speaking, is because we have given some sort of real gift to someone else through our work [...] But with speculation, there is no work done; there is no greater benefit for the community”
If the only good to come out of an individual investment is personal profit, then it is not a good act
Once companies go public, their main goal is growth rather than the original mission of what they’re producing and why
Work is more than the mere expenditure of energy; there is good work and bad work
Risk in medieval times was a sign that you were personally engaged with the person you were investing in—his loss was your loss, his gain was your gain
The ownership of a company through shares doesn’t actually track the outlay of real ownership, which is built up in correlation with the work and cultivation that we engage in
Owning stock in companies that commit evil can be a cause of scandal
“Once you are out of the rat race and out of the system [you see] that, Hey, It's actually okay over here. It's actually okay to be out of the market. I'm not destitute, I'm not on the streets. Am I poorer? Of course I am. Am I happier? You bet I am.”—Just because you’re not investing in the market, doesn’t mean you can’t invest in real businesses
“How much money am I actually putting in investments, versus how much am I just giving away? [...] how much more do these charitable enterprises need versus our friends’ labor being dignified?”
We end our lives needing help, just as we began; that help ideally comes from those we love rather than paid strangers
Because work is fundamental to our humanity, our goal for old age and retirement should not be simply a lack of work
Links
Universal destination of goods
The Universal Destination of Goods and Private Property
How the Wealth Was Won (National Bureau of Economics study)