WEBVTT NOTE Commentary 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.520 All right, I was asked to be a commentator, for which I'm very grateful. 2 00:00:05.520 --> 00:00:11.520 I was not able to read Gary North's paper, so I don't have a whole lot to say, 3 00:00:11.520 --> 00:00:14.720 other than I know he's an authority on the subject, 4 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:20.480 and I would recommend any of his books or any of his articles on lewrockwell.com. 5 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:26.480 I have read the other three papers in great detail, and I'd like to, first of all, 6 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:37.480 and I will talk about the paper by Tom Woods, Catholic Social Teaching and Austrian Economics Revisited, a reply to Thomas Stork. 7 00:00:37.480 --> 00:00:47.480 As someone who is not a Catholic, rarely has cause to be concerned about Catholic social teaching and knows little about Thomas Stork, 8 00:00:47.480 --> 00:00:53.440 Stork, beyond that, he is a noted and vocal distributist. I must confess that I read Tom's 9 00:00:53.440 --> 00:00:59.720 paper with curiosity more than anything else. Knowing Tom as I do, and having read his book 10 00:00:59.720 --> 00:01:06.500 The Church and the Market, I knew that he could easily dismantle Stork's house of distributism 11 00:01:06.500 --> 00:01:13.240 brick by brick. But alas, that is not the purpose of Tom's paper. Instead, we have 12 00:01:13.240 --> 00:01:20.120 have a serious explanation of the theoretical foundations of Austrian economics with reference 13 00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:26.760 to the logical fallacies and gratuitous assumptions of Thomas Stork. 14 00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:33.640 I wish Dr. Woods had given the assertions in Stork's unnamed paper in more detail. 15 00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:38.840 But when someone is writing on economics and he's wrong on leisure, supply and demand, 16 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:45.660 scarcity, CEO salaries, and middlemen, and then mischaracterizes both neoclassical and 17 00:01:45.660 --> 00:01:53.520 Austrian economics, I suppose that the less detail, the better. 18 00:01:53.520 --> 00:01:58.000 Stork's most ridiculous assertion is that the Austrian School fails to understand how 19 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:00.600 the world really works. 20 00:02:00.600 --> 00:02:04.880 To the contrary, the Austrian School, since it is grounded in human action and natural 21 00:02:04.880 --> 00:02:11.640 Laws Instead of Mathematical Formulas and Historical Experience is the only school of 22 00:02:11.640 --> 00:02:15.740 economics that deals with the world as it is. 23 00:02:15.740 --> 00:02:20.620 Although Stork and Woods are both converts to the Catholic faith, their interpretation 24 00:02:20.620 --> 00:02:27.040 of their church's pronouncements on economics couldn't be more different. 25 00:02:27.040 --> 00:02:32.640 Stork is a distributist who believes that the capitalistic system is dangerous and unwise 26 00:02:32.640 --> 00:02:40.240 With fruits that have been harmful for mankind, he sees distributism as more akin to Catholic 27 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:46.880 thought than capitalism. Woods is an Austrian who believes that capital investment in the free market 28 00:02:46.880 --> 00:02:52.560 have resulted in more productivity and a steady improvement in the worker's standard of living 29 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:59.280 measured according to any criteria. He sees capitalism as more akin to Catholic thought, 30 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:11.280 Stork recognizes but does not accept the assertion by the papacy that the technical details of economics lie beyond the Church's competence. 31 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:22.280 Woods on the other hand accepts this assertion and prefers a Catholic social teaching that is limited to general moral principles to guide the faithful in the marketplace 32 00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:29.280 Instead of the distinctly unhelpful economic advice of Catholic bishops. 33 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:44.280 Because the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church can lead the average Catholic in the pew to accept statements from a conference of bishops or clergy as official church dogma, Tom has his work cut out for him. 34 00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:54.280 But I don't know how a shark like Tom Woods can write the many important books he's written and still find time to deal with a minnow like Thomas Stork. 35 00:03:55.280 --> 00:04:03.280 In one of his many articles on distributism, Stork appeals for support to many of the best minds in the church. 36 00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:11.280 But why appeal to many when one will do? The best mind in the church, Thomas E. Woods Jr. 37 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:23.520 Timothy Terrell spoke on the influence of John Calvin on economic thought. 38 00:04:23.520 --> 00:04:28.220 As one who has written an 800-page book on Calvin and his theology, I was especially 39 00:04:28.220 --> 00:04:34.840 interested in this paper, and even more so since this year is the 500th anniversary of 40 00:04:34.840 --> 00:04:36.840 Calvin's birth. 41 00:04:36.840 --> 00:04:43.120 Dr. Terrell has confirmed what I concluded in my 1999 book, The Other Side of Calvinism, 42 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:50.400 Calvin valued private property, capital, frift, hard work, and rejected medieval usury laws. 43 00:04:51.520 --> 00:04:57.440 Calvin was certainly no laissez-faire libertarian, or even a reliable advocate of the free market, 44 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:04.800 but we all know that, and Timothy is not arguing otherwise. Voltaire didn't call Calvin the Pope 45 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:10.320 or the Protestants for no reason. Calvin supported intervention that was broad in scope. 46 00:05:10.320 --> 00:05:19.320 What we have then in this paper is an honest appraisal of Calvin, warts and all. 47 00:05:19.320 --> 00:05:28.320 Timothy argues that Calvin, sometimes indirectly, sometimes inadvertently, and usually inconsistently, 48 00:05:28.320 --> 00:05:34.320 improved and changed economic theory and policy so as to enhance economic freedom. 49 00:05:34.320 --> 00:05:52.320 And I agree completely. Calvin's support of commerce, property rights, the division of labor, and capital accumulation couldn't do otherwise. His emphasis on heavenly reward instead of earthly gratification shows up in the importance he placed on labor and thrift. 50 00:05:52.320 --> 00:05:58.540 I don't think Calvin's worth ethic can be blamed for the labor theory of value. 51 00:05:58.540 --> 00:06:03.880 Timothy refers to Rothbard's discussion of the subject, but doesn't state Rothbard's 52 00:06:03.880 --> 00:06:10.700 conclusion that there is no way to prove this hypothesis conclusively. 53 00:06:10.700 --> 00:06:16.260 He does, however, recognize Calvin's most important contribution to economic freedom, 54 00:06:16.260 --> 00:06:19.440 the legitimization of interest-taking. 55 00:06:19.440 --> 00:06:25.720 As Rothbard says, Calvin's bold break with the formal ban on usury was a liberating breakthrough 56 00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:27.680 in Western thought and practice. 57 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:35.200 It is the inconsistencies in Calvin that are perplexing, supporting commerce but disdaining 58 00:06:35.200 --> 00:06:41.120 merchants, upholding usury but disparaging moneylenders. 59 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:46.080 One of the most important things Timothy brings out in this paper is that Calvin explicitly 60 00:06:46.080 --> 00:06:53.720 distinguishes the religious interpretation of justice from legal and political justice. 61 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:58.560 Adherence to this principle would certainly keep modern Calvinists from embarrassing their 62 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:04.400 namesake. Like when the faculty of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan wrote a 63 00:07:04.400 --> 00:07:11.580 textbook for use in the college's introductory economic courses that was called by the recently 64 00:07:11.580 --> 00:07:25.580 by the newly deceased Calvinist John Robbins, a totalitarian and socialist tract written with religious fervor by admirers of serfdom and the dark ages. 65 00:07:25.580 --> 00:07:36.580 Any definitive examination of Calvin's contributions to economic theory and policy would require much more research in the primary sources, of which there are many. 66 00:07:36.580 --> 00:07:46.340 As that is not Dr. Terrell's purpose, this survey is more than adequate to show Calvin's influence on economic thought. 67 00:07:46.340 --> 00:07:52.140 Sean Reitnauer spoke on 19th century Protestant theology and the biblical view of property. 68 00:07:52.140 --> 00:08:01.580 I thought this was an outstanding, biblically-based paper, something that needed to be written and something I wish I had written. 69 00:08:01.580 --> 00:08:05.680 Dr. Reitnauer argues for a uniquely Christian view of property. 70 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:17.580 God owns all there is because he made it. Therefore, men hold property as stewards of God. Therefore, men have a duty not to infringe on the property rights of others. 71 00:08:17.580 --> 00:08:29.580 This viewpoint can be found in the Church Fathers, Middle-Age theologians, Spanish scholastics, contemporary Roman Catholicism, and historical Protestantism. 72 00:08:29.580 --> 00:08:36.940 That is, every Christian tradition of note except the readers of sojourners. 73 00:08:36.940 --> 00:08:42.220 The focus of this paper is on 19th century Protestantism and for good reason. 74 00:08:42.220 --> 00:08:47.260 This was before liberal Protestants swallowed the progressive and social gospel movements 75 00:08:47.260 --> 00:08:55.180 and began their quest for social justice through what Sean calls their faith-based interventionism. 76 00:08:55.180 --> 00:09:00.060 As one who has done extensive research on the Baptist minister Francis Whelan, 77 00:09:00.060 --> 00:09:05.980 as well as naming my Christian think tank after him, I was especially pleased to see the space 78 00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:12.220 given to the views of Whelan in this paper. And I should also say that I have reprinted Whelan's 79 00:09:12.220 --> 00:09:19.580 book on economics, and it is posted online at the Mises Institute. The most crucial and most 80 00:09:19.580 --> 00:09:24.580 The most relevant part of the paper is the section on private property and the ruler. 81 00:09:24.580 --> 00:09:28.580 Here, Sean addresses the role of the state and its agents. 82 00:09:28.580 --> 00:09:32.580 These four statements are especially noteworthy. 83 00:09:32.580 --> 00:09:38.580 Just as private citizens should not steal, the state should not steal either. 84 00:09:38.580 --> 00:09:46.580 The state is not authorized to become an agent of aggression who takes from the productive and gives to the politically connected. 85 00:09:46.580 --> 00:09:58.580 God does not command us not to murder or steal except if we work for the state, and we should not collectively take what is not ours through the state. 86 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:04.580 These are things that are rarely even being said today from conservative church pulpits. 87 00:10:04.580 --> 00:10:12.580 Although, as I said, this is a biblically based paper, there are two crucial biblical references to property that are not mentioned. 88 00:10:12.580 --> 00:10:18.540 One in the Old Testament, one in the New Testament, one concerning real property, one concerning 89 00:10:18.540 --> 00:10:24.220 both real and personal property, one dealing with state expropriation, one dealing with 90 00:10:24.220 --> 00:10:26.140 voluntary transfer. 91 00:10:26.140 --> 00:10:30.980 The first is the Old Testament story of Naboth's vineyard, found in First Kings. 92 00:10:30.980 --> 00:10:35.540 Naboth of Jezreel had a vineyard by the palace of King Ahab. 93 00:10:35.540 --> 00:10:39.180 Ahab wanted Naboth's land for a garden of herbs. 94 00:10:39.180 --> 00:10:54.180 He offered to give Naboth either a better vineyard or cash payment. Naboth refused to sell. When Ahab sulked because he couldn't get Naboth to sell, his wife Jezebel concocted a scheme to obtain Naboth's vineyard. 95 00:10:54.180 --> 00:11:07.180 She sent official government letters to the elders of Jezreel instructing them to proclaim a fast and have two false witnesses testify that Naboth blasphemed both God and the king. 96 00:11:07.180 --> 00:11:10.680 This resulted in Naboth and his family being stoned to death. 97 00:11:10.680 --> 00:11:18.680 After this, Ahab, at the instigation of his wife, rose up to go down to the vineyard and took possession of it. 98 00:11:18.680 --> 00:11:22.680 I guess that's the first case of eminent domain. 99 00:11:22.680 --> 00:11:29.680 The other reference is in the New Testament account of the early Christians having all things common, recorded in the book of Acts. 100 00:11:29.680 --> 00:11:34.680 There we also read that the early Christians, because of an impending famine, 101 00:11:34.680 --> 00:11:41.260 Every man, according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea. 102 00:11:41.260 --> 00:11:48.880 Believers voluntarily sold property and possessions as needs arose and distributed the proceeds to other believers in need. 103 00:11:48.880 --> 00:11:56.720 This had nothing to do with economic justice or rectifying the inequality of sellers, distributors and recipients. 104 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:04.220 And only someone ignorant of what communism is would make the mistake of equating voluntary consumer action 105 00:12:04.220 --> 00:12:08.420 with State Ownership of Property and the Means of Production. 106 00:12:08.420 --> 00:12:12.060 I would love to see a member of the religious left cringe 107 00:12:12.060 --> 00:12:15.820 when he reads in this paper that the economic institution 108 00:12:15.820 --> 00:12:18.380 that maintains social justice, 109 00:12:18.380 --> 00:12:22.460 that maintains justice in social relations regarding property 110 00:12:22.460 --> 00:12:24.260 is the free market. 111 00:12:24.260 --> 00:12:26.740 Sean is exactly right, of course, 112 00:12:26.740 --> 00:12:30.620 but I wonder if he's trying to do too much with one paper. 113 00:12:30.620 --> 00:12:32.340 I would like to see more of a connection 114 00:12:32.340 --> 00:12:37.740 between Violations of Property Rights and the Religious Left's Interventionist Economic 115 00:12:37.740 --> 00:12:38.740 Policy. 116 00:12:38.740 --> 00:12:44.540 But again, this is an excellent paper, and I look forward to Sean's forthcoming book 117 00:12:44.540 --> 00:12:47.800 on economics from a Christian perspective.