Today’s Financial Situation

It is not hard to see some of today’s troubles as a repeat of the errors of the 1930's. There is arrogance up top. The federal government is arrogant with the money supply and exhibits disregard and even hostility to all other businessmen and money handlers. It is as a result of this that economic recovery seems out of reach.

The key to recovery, now as in the 1930s, is to be found in property rights. These rights suffer under our current politics in several ways. The mortgage crisis, for example, arose out of a long-standing erosion of the property rights concept. Broadening FDR’s entitlement theories of the 1930’s, Congress has taught the country that home ownership is a “right.” This has fostered a misunderstanding of what property is. The owners of homes have failed to realize what ownership entails—that is, they haven’t grasped that they are obligated to deliver on the terms of the contract of their mortgage. In the bipartisan enthusiasm for making everyone an owner, our government has debased the concept of home ownership.

Property rights are endangered as well by the ongoing assault on contracts generally. A perfect example of this was the treatment of Chrysler bonds during the company’s bankruptcy, where senior secured creditors were ignored, notwithstanding the status of their bonds under bankruptcy law. The current administration made a political decision to subordinate those contracts to union demands. That sent a dangerous signal for the future that U.S. bonds are not trustworthy.

Three other threats to property loom. One is tax increases, such as the coming expiration of the Bush tax cuts. More taxes mean less private property. A second threat is in the area of infrastructure. Stimulus plans tend to emphasize infrastructure—especially roads and railroads. And after the Supreme Court’s Kelo decision of 2005, the federal government will have enormous license to use eminent domain to claim private property for these purposes. Third and finally, there is the worst kind of confiscation of private property: inflation, which excessive government spending necessarily encourages. Inflation is closer than the country thinks.

Property rights must be firmly established or else we will not have the kind of economic activity that leads to strong recovery. Economic growth depends on the impulse of the small businessman and entrepreneur to get back in the game. In order for this to happen, we don’t need a perfect government. All we need is one that is “not too bad,” whose rules are not constantly changing and snuffing out the willingness of these players to take risks. We need a government under which the money supply doesn’t change unpredictably. Business must be confident in the possibility of seeing significant returns on investment.

Recovery won’t happen from the top. But when those at the top step back and create the proper conditions, it will happen down there on main street.

This blog post was excerpted and modified from Imprimis, September 2010.

It is a true fact that marriage in America is in deep trouble. For the first time in our nation's history, a child living in a single-parent family is just as likely to be living with a never-married parent as with a divorced parent. We can see that not only the fact of marriage break-up in our society; even the definition of marriage is changing. Just about any configuration of people living together can be called a "family." All they need to say to call themselves a family in our liberal society is to say they "love" each other.

In the past, divorce was the primary engine driving family breakdown, and it still serves as a major cause. The Census Bureau explains, "the fastest growing marital-status category (over the past 25 year period) is dovorced persons. The number of currently divorced persons quadrupled from 4.3 million in 1970 to 17.4 million in 1994. The scale of marital breakdowns in the West since 1960 has no historical precedent. There has been nothing like it in the past 2000 years, and probably longer.

Today, however, the main problem seems to be the large number of people who are not even bothering to get married, at all. Seventy-two percent of all adults were married in 1970 but by 1994, the number had dropped to 61%. Many of these unmarried people are cohabiting--just living together with the benefit of a marriage certificate. Children are present in 40% of cohabiting unions, and estimates from the National Survey of Families and Households incicate that 27% of all nonmarital births were to cohabiting couples.

It is my opinion that these bad statistical facts do not apply equallly to committed Christian families and church-going families that pray daily, read the Bible regularly, and acknowledge their Savior as Lord. I believe that those who live in the Christian sub-culture are in much better shape marriage-wise than their secular associates. But Christ must some day penetrate much more deeply into our society than He does today if we are ever to reverse the miserable condition of the institution of marriage in America.

Marriage Matters. It's Important!

This blog post is a continuation of my series on the advantages and disadvantages of marriage. Today’s post deals with the impact of marriage education.

Marriage education is the key that can unlock the doors of conflict, communication, and intimacy. It can set free the power of healthier marriages.

A meta-analysis of over 100 studies on the impact of marriage education found clear evidence that marriage education programs work--"to reduce strife, improve communication, increase parenting skills, increase stability, and enhance marital happiness." (The Heritage Foundation: Backgrounder #1606, 2002)

A meta-analysis of 20 different marriage education programs across 85 studies involving 3,886 couples found an average positive effect size of 0.44, indicating that the average couple participating in any one of the marriage education programs studied improved their behavior and quality of relationship so that they were better off than more than two-thirds of the couples that did not participate in any marriage education program. (J. of Marital and Family Therapy Vol.11, 1955 p257-271)

The message seems clear--if a couple wants a healthier and happier marriage, they should strongly consider participation in a marriage education seminar.

Marriage Matters. It’s Important!

This blog post is a continuation of my series on the advantages and disadvantages of marriage. Today’s post deals with the impact of marriage on children.

Healthy marriages have a dramatic effect on the health and welfare of children.

High school students from intact families “outperform those students from divorced families across all categories,” including having grade point averages 11% higher and missing nearly 60% fewer class periods than those from non-intact families. (J. of Divorce and Remarriage 38.3/4 2003:167-185)

Young women ages 13-19 that have ever lived with a single, solo, parent have a greater risk of having a premarital teen pregnancy than young women that have never lived with a single, solo, parent. (J. of Marriage and Families vol.66, 2004)

Marriage Matters. It’s Important!

This blog post is a continuation of my series on the advantages and disadvantages of marriage. Today’s post deals with the health implications of marriage.

Higher stress hormones—epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisone—and three related hormones are associated with higher probabilities of a husband’s withdrawal in response to a wife’s negative behavior during a conflict (J. of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 4/96,Vol.64.No.2,324-332). Abrasive arguments between husbands and wives are linked to weakening of certain immune responses and increase in levels of stress hormones, increasing susceptibility to illness, particularly infectious diseases and perhaps cancer. The more negative behaviors couples show toward each other, the more their immune measures are weakened (Psychosomatic Medicine 59:339-349). Couples who demonstrate negative behaviors toward each other during discussions—sarcasm, putdowns, overt nastiness, and dismissals—show indications of weakened immune systems compared to other couples who behave more positively. These results are found both for newlyweds as well as older couples married for many years (ibid.). Happily married people also show greater proliferation of white blood cells when exposed to foreign invaders than do other subjects (Gottman, The Seven Principles For Making Marriage Work 1999,page5-6).

Marriage Matters. It’s Important!

Caring Hands Pregnancy Center, where my wife, Nancy, and I serve, is in constant contact with people who have poor quality or nonexistent marriages. For that reason, I am posting a series of articles on this blog recounting the reasons for good marriages and the problems that ensue because of their absence.

Studies now show that people with strong marriages tend to be healthier, happier, and live longer. Despite the stereotypes and negative portrayals in the media, the evidence is clear. It is good to be married!

An unhappy marriage can increase the chance of illness by 35% and shorten life by 4 years. Happily married people live longer, healthier lives than divorced or unhappily married couples (J. of Marriage and the Family 41.267-285). Non-married women have a 50% higher mortality rate than married women. Non-married men have a 250% higher mortality rate than married men (J. of Marriage and the Family 52(1990):1061).

Virtually every study of mortality and marital status shows the unmarried of both sexes have higher death rates, whether by accident, disease, or self-inflicted wounds. This is found in every country that maintains accurate health statistics (J. of Marriage and the Family 52(1990):1061)

In the most recent national surveys, married men and women have a lower risk for death from heart attacks compared to other marital status categories and enjoy a better chance of returning to health when they receive a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease (Psychological Bulletin 127,4,472-503).

The Love of God

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell.

Could we with ink the oceans fill
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above would
Drain the oceans dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.