The Delimna of Man and "Free Market Capitalism"

One of the commentators I appreciate is Larry Kudlow. Larry is only a man and is often wrong when he begins prognosticating about what to "buy" or "sell", but philosophically he is a generally a "reasonable" voice.

This morning he wrote the following in a column on "free Market Capitalism" I want to comment on:

The Reagan free-market revolution, which included regulation lite, a sound dollar, and low tax rates, launched a three-decade-long boom. And yes, the Gipper’s policies were copied around the world. (What does Barney Frank know that the rest of the world doesn’t?) Even the communists in China have adopted deregulated free-market capitalism.

Well, how has copying the Gipper''s policies in Russia, Poland, and other former communistic states worked out? Frankly, over the past twenty years or so most people living in those countries have stayed poor and a few "Oligarchs" control 95% of business and wealth. Why? The founder's of capitalism knew it and we should recognize it. Unregulated Capitalism without ethics and a moral framework merely amount to a form of economic Darwinism where the strong dominate and enslave the poor. Whether intentionally or un-intentionally this is a result of man's fallen state and human condition.

Early in man's recorded history God gave Moses "the Law" because He knew we needed it. Look it up. It was all about His law restraining man's inability to look past his own desires. The first structure in the church came as deacons were identified and charged with caring for those who were being overlooked...in the glorious early church! Those who had seen Jesus in a resurrected state were feeding their family and friends and allowing others in their community to live off little.

Perhaps we should be informed as followers of Jesus that regulation only increases as sin and self-serving without a biblical ethical framework increases. Can we change the world and this tidle wave of greed and self-serving? I suggest the answer is yes. But not with more political regulation, but by making a decision today to live by a different system of government regulated by The Lawgiver. God help us to live by your power as you prescribe. Short of this...there is little hope for reformation in business or any other area of life!