Christian Economics in One Lesson: A Re-Working of Henry Hazlitt's book, Economics in One Lesson

by Gary North

Christian Economics in One Lesson is Dr. North's reworking of Henry Hazlitt’s classic introduction to economic thought, Economics in One Lesson. That book set the standard as an introductory economics book.

Nothing has come close to replacing it ever since it was first published in 1946.

Why is it necessary to replace a classic? There are several reasons. First and foremost, it was written in 1946. A lot has happened since then, including the publication of Ludwig von Mises’ Human Action (1949). Second, it was written under a strict deadline. Hazlitt had been given a six-week leave of absence, and he had to produce the book from start to finish. Third, he targeted a different audience: readers of his business columns. This one targets Christians. (Orthodox Jews are invited to come along for the ride.) Fourth, ethics are placed at the heart of this analysis: the deliberate breaking of the window. Hazlitt did not—not explicitly, anyway.

Christian economics must begin with the issue of ultimate ownership. This sets it apart from modern economic analysis, which begins with the issue of scarcity. Second, this leads to the issue of theft, which in turn raises the issue of ethics.

The ultimate form of causation in human history is ethical: right vs. wrong. Modern economists do not share this view. In fact, it goes beyond this. They openly reject it. They proclaim economic analysis as value-free—this is self-deception. It is a variation of an ancient temptation: “Hath God said?” Yes, He has. “Thou shalt not steal.” There are negative sanctions attached to this commandment. These negative sanctions are both inherent in the economy and imposed by God on the economy. Our attention to this principle, especially in regard to intervention by the State, determines long-term economic growth or decline. It is time for Christians to be better-equipped for paying such attention.

Genres: Economics, Christian, Business, Politics

268 pages, Paperback

Published March 10, 2020

About the author

Gary North received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside. He served on the Senior Staff of the Foundation for Economic Education, in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, and was the president of the Institute for Christian Economics. Dr. North’s essays and reviews have appeared in three dozen magazines and journals, including The Wall Street Journal, National Review, The American Spectator, and others.

Reviews

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sensible all the way through.

[Jonathan Duff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everybody needs to read this book. It's important. Nuff said.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of economics from a Christian perspective.

[Joshua Jagelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

a rare insight into the direct relationship between ethics and economics

If you are not a “Christian” but you are an economist, or at least an armchair economist, this is a book for you. It’s not a treatise on Christianity, it is a treatise on the consequences of an economic system, that steals through legislated mechanisms - tracking the consequences of this and identifying the toolbox for such a break-in.
The voices of Hazlitt, von Mises and Hayek can also be heard in ground of North.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gets four stars for centering all economic thought on ownership and theft. That concept is so important. North gives the lay person confidence that they don’t need a degree in economics or years of experience to know whether someone is stealing or not. While on the other hand, most other economists distract from the theft with lofty ideas of the greater good.

I wanted to give it five stars, but the format was a little wooden.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you accept libertarian conceptions of the individual and private property as in alignment with scripture, then this book will probably be very compelling. If you don't, then this book probably won't be compelling. For both sides, this book will be a bit repetitive and also insightful in gaining a better understanding of what truly happens in an economic policy decision.

[Drmkk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like how North connected economics with the Bible. I think his incite is acute but his writing leaves much to be desired. Is there not an economist who can can correctly analyze AND explain in lain language?

[Albert Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. North lays out the groundwork for how we as Christians should think about economics. Especially important to take note of, is how he emphasises that economic thought cannot be divorced from the commandment: "Thou shallt not steal".

[Peter Kiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good, common, Christian sense. Very thoughtful, although the ending is quite repetetive and sloggish. North has tamed his sometimes bombastic writing style and it is engaging and mostly inoffensive here. Definitely much to talk and think about from here, not much to disagree with!

[Blake Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this book is an oxymoron

[Cole Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book on economics I’ve ever read, and it was a good place to start.

#vtReadingChallenge •A Book By A Man

[Mark Bennon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good information but very dry.

[Yash Arya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Links
eBook, Audiobook

Disclaimer
I'm not a Christian. I do not know whether North's interpretation of Christianity is true or false - but I do know that it is the interpretation that's conducive to human flourishing. Ultimately however, what matters in terms of real world consequences is not the true interpretation of a religion, but its popular interpretation. North has laid out the argument. It is up to Christians to engage with it and popularize it within the Christian dominated societies. This review is also not an endorsement of all of North's ideas, that I'm not familiar with beyond this book.

Background
This book is Gary North's rewriting of Henry Hazlitt's classic "Economics in One Lesson."

Economics in One Lesson is perhaps one of the finest introductions to economic thinking, surpassing most textbooks in both clarity and correctness, but it has some shortcomings.
1. Hazlitt was on a strict timeline. He wrote the book in 3 weeks. This makes the last quarter of the book somewhat less clear.
2. There's no standard template that Hazlitt followed in each of his chapters. He could have. That would make it easier for the reader to follow and reproduce his arguments.
3. Hazlitt borrowed Bastiat's general framework (The "One" Lesson) to analyze the long term consequences of a government policy. He did not follow Bastiat's other great tool - the plunder principle, which provides a concise razor to separate out good and bad laws
4. Hazlitt, like most economists, detached economics from ethics.

North addresses these shortcomings. You do not need to be a Christian to appreciate this book. Personally, I found the biblical stories he relies on generally super interesting.

Core Idea
Hazlitt centered his book around the following lesson: When analyzing a policy, consider not only its short-term consequences on some people, but also the long-term consequences on everyone.

North uses that lesson to re-write each chapter of Hazlitt's book, but he uses a different central ethical lesson from the bible: “Thou shalt not steal” - Exodus 20:15

North elaborates: "I suggest this bumper sticker: Thou shalt not steal. This goes on the left-hand side of the bumper. This one goes on the right-hand side: Even by majority vote."

While most Christians may take this as a commandment on faith, they shouldn't, and there's no reason to do so.

Why obey this command to not steal? Because God warns that you’ll be blessed with peace, prosperity, and health if you do [Deuteronomy 28:1–14] and cursed with conflict, poverty, and sickness if you don’t [Deuteronomy 28:15–65].

“I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” - Deuteronomy 30:19

As an atheist, I consider this as an approximate personification of the Law of Identity/Causality warning you about the dangers of choosing the wrong path, and the blessings on the right path.

The Bible also warns about the long-term negative consequences of stealing.

“Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouth full of gravel.” — Proverbs 20:17

If humans are to be free to flourish individually and in aggregate, we better learn this lesson: Thou shall not steal, not even by majority vote, not even "to help the needy."

Otherwise we will all be victims of conflict and poverty. Many civilizations have collapsed because they did not learn this lesson. Will we? We're certainly not early, but it's better late than never.

[Ryan Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is Gary North's rewriting of Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson. North uses the concept of the broken window fallacy, originally developed by Frederic Bastiat, and applies it to variety of economic situations showing the unseen consequences of the state interfering with the free market. North explains that when looking at economics one must look not only at the seen effects, someone getting hired to fix a broken window, but also the unseen effects, the window owner not being able to purchase other goods or services because his money has to be spend on window repairs.