The Hard-bitten Economy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Christians differ on economic and political matters.\u00a0 Many are likely unified in these days, though, in a recognition that our national economy continues\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2011\/09\/the-hard-bitten-economy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Hard-bitten Economy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Christians differ on economic and political matters.\u00a0 Many are likely unified in these days, though, in a recognition that our national economy continues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2011\/09\/the-hard-bitten-economy\/\" \/>\n<meta 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{"id":2966,"date":"2011-09-13T19:03:11","date_gmt":"2011-09-13T19:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owenstrachan.com\/?p=2966"},"modified":"2011-09-13T19:03:11","modified_gmt":"2011-09-13T19:03:11","slug":"the-hard-bitten-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2011\/09\/the-hard-bitten-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hard-bitten Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>Christians differ on economic and political matters.\u00a0 Many are likely unified in these days, though, in a recognition that our national economy continues to struggle (to say nothing of the global economy).<\/p>\n

Matthew Continetti of the Weekly Standard<\/em> has written a tough-minded piece worth reading on our present economic state<\/a>.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a bit:<\/p>\n

[F]or almost four years, a prolonged and brutal economic slump has coincided with sustained government efforts to bring demand forward and get consumers spending as they did before the crash. The powers that be say they\u2019ve tried everything: temporary tax cuts, public works, Cash for Clunkers, Cash for Caulkers, cash transfers, preferential loans to favored companies, plus two rounds of what\u2019s known as \u201cquantitative easing,\u201d aka money creation. They\u2019ve sent money to states to prevent layoffs of public sector workers. They\u2019ve entangled the government in AIG, GM, and Chrysler and further entangled it in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Nothing\u2019s worked.<\/em><\/p>\n

Continetti does not blame only Barack Obama, but George W. Bush.\u00a0 He does, however, conclude with hard words:<\/p>\n

The fact is that everyone is drowning in debt. Governments, banks, individuals all took on far too many obligations. We\u2019ve been on a sugar rush for a decade\u2014and the president says the answer is just one more Pixy Stix.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read the piece<\/a>.\u00a0 We are in tough times, times that seem to call for drastic financial measures.\u00a0 Prayer is needed for our leaders and for the development of bright young evangelical minds that can handle these and other matters with biblical fidelity and nuanced insight.\u00a0 Common sense is hard bitten today; one can hope for a renaissance of it.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"