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.