The Creation of Wealth: Recovering a Christian Understanding of Money, Work, and Ethics

Rating:
Summary: Still Good for Discussion
Review: While Sir Fred Catherwood has plenty of experience for a book like this-a CEO of an international company, a member of a government trade committee, and a member of the European Parliament for Cambridgeshire, England-he hasn't written a strong book.

From his preface, he purports to examine the reasons some countries are wealthier than others. "It is easy to see why Christian respect for the dignity of the individual could lead to democracy; but why, when Christians are taught not to set their hearts on riches, is Western society ten times richer than the rest of the world? Why, too, after half a century of aid, have poor countries not even begun to catch up?" He points to the Bible commentaries of John Calvin for revealing Scriptural truths to Western countries in a more applicable way than the Catholic church had done-perhaps even more than it currently does. The Bible teaches principles such as the holiness of common work, trust and honesty in the marketplace, and our duty to care for the poor, orphans, and widows among other things. Those are principles even modern Christians need a better handle on.

In his chapter on wealth, Catherwood describes his core principle. "Practicing Christians are likely to be richer than their neighbors. We are taught to work harder, be more trustworthy and responsible, and develop our talents to the full; we are not to gamble or waste our money on conspicuous consumption-it would be odd if all this did not put us ahead. And looking around the world, the Western democracies, rooted in this ethic, all have personal incomes far greater than anywhere else. If those with the skill overspend, leaving no capital to invest, then the rest of the world will suffer. The West is the dynamo of the world economy, and we have no right to squander all the wealth on ourselves. The rich should not get richer by making the poor poorer" (p 40).

As a practicing Christian, I agree with his estimate, though there are many believers who are not following even these simple principles. I also agree that some American businessmen are increasing their wealth off the backs of poor and middling-waged workers, both domestic and foreign. But I don't agree that our general working environment helps the rich get richer while pushing the poor to be poorer, especially using the definitions often used by those who employ these words. Based on this assumption, Catherwood argues that employers must protect their workers and treat them fairly so that wealthy businessmen cannot build their empires on the bodies of poor laborers. He reminds us that 19th Century Christians fought for laws which would guarantee some safeguards for workers against employers who may exploit them. But I throw out a caution flag when such mandated protections become overbearing on the employer. They cease to be worker protections at that point and become the entangling entitlements of a socialist state. Is it not better to keep such protections at a minimum and enable workers to protect themselves to best of their ability, thereby freeing both employer and employee to use their incomes wisely?

Using income wisely is another of Catherwood's themes. In the above quote, he says the world will suffer if the West squanders its wealth instead of investing it; but elsewhere in the book, he explains why foreign aid doesn't work. "Corruption is the main single reason why income per capita in most countries is only a tenth of that in the industrial democracies" (p 54). Without the moral basis for good business and sound government, foreign aid will continue to throw good money after bad. So, why does the author generalize about squandering wealth? Maybe he is encouraging us to give generously to those ministries and organizations that teach a moral basis.

Generosity is one of the good ideas present in The Creation of Wealth along with frugality, saving, and investing. With them, however, the author praises the American media for its truthfulness, urges Christians to "protest" the environmental misuses causing global warming, and calls for supporting the taxation needed to fund public education and health care. I doubt these latter reasons will sit well with many conservative Christians and will prevent them for recommending the book to their friends.

Writing about money, work, and politics is controversial ground without trying to apply biblical concepts, so I suppose I should anticipate conflict when reading this book. And I think that controversy, if not the subject alone, inhibits the book's wider acceptance. I have no doubt there are thousands of Christian businessmen who do not have an adequate understanding of how to apply God's Word to their specific business decisions. This book may not be the one for them. It may be one for non-Christian, though religious, businessmen, but I'm not sure about that either.