A Jewish perspective on market, justice, and charity
Religion & Liberty Online

A Jewish perspective on market, justice, and charity

“Not a day goes by when there’s not some concern raised about the state of the economy and how people are faring,” says Curt Biren in this week’s Acton Commentary. “While recent economic growth has been promising, wage growth is lackluster, many say.”

The middle class is shrinking. There’s too much income inequality, and the list goes on. These concerns are often compelling. Who wouldn’t like to see more opportunity and more growth? People yearn for the good life, to experience real human flourishing. Yet many in our society seem to be falling short.

Surely there must be something more that we as a society can do. Are there not public policies and programs, many ask, that, if structured and funded properly, could lead to the outcomes we seek? It’s a tempting vision and, for many, government intervention in the economy seems compassionate and fair. Yet this approach raises a number of questions. Do such public policies and programs actually work? More importantly, do they cohere with our traditional values of justice and charity?

The full text of the essay can be found here.

Joe Carter

Joe Carter is a Senior Editor at the Acton Institute. Joe also serves as an editor at the The Gospel Coalition, a communications specialist for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and as an adjunct professor of journalism at Patrick Henry College. He is the editor of the NIV Lifehacks Bible and co-author of How to Argue like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History's Greatest Communicator (Crossway).