by Joe R. Kesler ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 3, 2014
A theological interpretation of ethical and effective finance.
A faith-based approach to responsible financial behavior.
In this debut personal finance book, Kesler draws on both his experience as a community bank executive and his role as a lay leader in Christian churches to offer readers a biblical perspective on earning, accumulating and using money. Kesler calls his framework “stewardship theology,” distinguishing it from the more well-known health and prosperity gospel. The book encourages readers to determine their strengths and their callings and understand that, while some people are called to lives of service, there is nothing wrong if the most effective way to serve both faith and humanity is by building wealth ethically, contributing to an improved standard of living and giving back to the community. The guide covers standard components of secular personal finance books, from creating a budget to understanding interest rates, but it also includes Bible verses that support the book’s interpretation of stewardship as a responsible financial practice. Kesler shares anecdotes from his own experience, from reconciling his work with his religious beliefs (“My banking career was not only salvaged, I was now convinced it was a sacred calling, even an act of loving my neighbor because of the good that occurs when resources are productively allocated”) to the techniques he and his wife use for managing family finances. While much of the advice is uncontroversial, statements like “There is in essence no difference between trying to hold down the grocery bill and the president of Boeing trying to locate a new production plant in a lower cost state or country” are unlikely to convince skeptics that stewardship can be reconciled with social justice. Although the book may not be persuasive to outsiders, it’s effectively pitched at its target audience of individuals looking to combine Christian faith with responsible personal finance, and the format, with discussion questions following each chapter, makes the book a good fit for church groups.
A theological interpretation of ethical and effective finance.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2014
ISBN: 978-1499162516
Page Count: 230
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 12, 2019
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.
“Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.
It’s no secret, write Banerjee and Duflo (co-authors: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty, 2011), that “we seem to have fallen on hard times.” Immigration, trade, inequality, and taxation problems present themselves daily, and they seem to be intractable. Economics can be put to use in figuring out these big-issue questions. Data can be adduced, for example, to answer the question of whether immigration tends to suppress wages. The answer: “There is no evidence low-skilled migration to rich countries drives wage and employment down for the natives.” In fact, it opens up opportunities for those natives by freeing them to look for better work. The problem becomes thornier when it comes to the matter of free trade; as the authors observe, “left-behind people live in left-behind places,” which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for exploitation by nationalist politicians. The authors add, interestingly, that the same thing occurred in parts of Germany, Spain, and Norway that fell victim to the “China shock.” In what they call a “slightly technical aside,” they build a case for addressing trade issues not with trade wars but with consumption taxes: “It makes no sense to ask agricultural workers to lose their jobs just so steelworkers can keep theirs, which is what tariffs accomplish.” Policymakers might want to consider such counsel, especially when it is coupled with the observation that free trade benefits workers in poor countries but punishes workers in rich ones.
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61039-950-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
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More About This Book
SEEN & HEARD
by Enrico Moretti ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2012
A welcome contribution from a newcomer who provides both a different view and balance in addressing one of the country's...
A fresh, provocative analysis of the debate on education and employment.
Up-and-coming economist Moretti (Economics/Univ. of California, Berkeley) takes issue with the “[w]idespread misconception…that the problem of inequality in the United States is all about the gap between the top one percent and the remaining 99 percent.” The most important aspect of inequality today, he writes, is the widening gap between the 45 million workers with college degrees and the 80 million without—a difference he claims affects every area of peoples' lives. The college-educated part of the population underpins the growth of America's economy of innovation in life sciences, information technology, media and other areas of globally leading research work. Moretti studies the relationship among geographic concentration, innovation and workplace education levels to identify the direct and indirect benefits. He shows that this clustering favors the promotion of self-feeding processes of growth, directly affecting wage levels, both in the innovative industries as well as the sectors that service them. Indirect benefits also accrue from knowledge and other spillovers, which accompany clustering in innovation hubs. Moretti presents research-based evidence supporting his view that the public and private economic benefits of education and research are such that increased federal subsidies would more than pay for themselves. The author fears the development of geographic segregation and Balkanization along education lines if these issues of long-term economic benefits are left inadequately addressed.
A welcome contribution from a newcomer who provides both a different view and balance in addressing one of the country's more profound problems.Pub Date: May 5, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-547-75011-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
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