YouTube #19 Christianity & Tariffs

Is President Trump right or wrong in his plan to impose tariffs on our trading partners? According to the politicians, business leaders, and media pundits on the right and left, Trump is an economic Neanderthal. In our day, the economic policy of Free Trade is all the rage, but is it right? Does the Bible have anything to say about the subject?

In this program I explain the ideology behind free trade and the point at which it deviates from Biblical revelation about trade deficits and human nature. The bottom line is that economists are unable to include sin in their formulas. People (especially nations) engage in trade for all sorts of reasons besides rational self-interest – and rational self-interest is not always economic justice and fairness.

I did not include this in the program, but kudos to President Trump for signing an executive order last week to block a Singapore company from takeover of the America company Qualcomm.

Scripture References: Proverbs 13:23; Ecclesiastes 9:18; Deuteronomy 29:19, 28:12-13, 28-29, 33, 43-44; Jeremiah 19:7, 8:9; Job 5:12; Micah 2:1; Isaiah 5:8; James 5:4; Luke 15:13