Wayne Grudem and Barry Asmus attempted to answer these questions in there new book, “The Poverty of Nations: A Sustainable Solution”.
There is no other book like this.
They have scoured the world looking at what makes nations prosperous and compiled their findings in this book. The two primary reasons that lead a nation to poverty are 1) redistribution of wealth and 2) welfare. This two ideas gain popularity when people are no longer restrained by the teaching of the scriptures not to envy or steal from their neighbors.
I find it ironic that Wayne and Barry’s research points to envy as the primary source of poverty among the nations at a time when the world is approaching a global collapse - and envy has become the primary influence in economic policy.
The scriptures predict envy to be widespread in the end times (2 Tim 3:2) “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous”. The Lord knew that envy would lead the world to economic disaster and it he wrote about it thousands of years ago, and now we have research confirming it, yet we are still going to ignore the clear evidence, reject the Lord’s wisdom and crash the economy.
Fairness and wealth redistribution
Grudem explains what happens when a nation takes on the role of ‘fairness’ by taking money earned by some people and giving it to others. “Making equality a more important goal than overall economic growth is a mistake for a government, because merely distributing the same amount of wealth in different ways does not change the total amount of wealth a nation produces each year” p49. “Nowhere does the Bible teach that it is the responsibility of the government to attempt to equalize income … That is not a legitimate purpose of the government. “ p79.
The Lord said he would bless the nation that puts his laws into theirs. When a nation makes laws to steal from its people in order to accomplish its goals, they are setting themselves against the Lords' advice. The nation is saying that it is not up to the Lord to determine who will prosper, rather they will overrule the gifts that God has handed out. They are saying since God is not just according to how they understand 'fairness', they will take this responsibility away from the Lord. It turns out that this causes the entire nation to sink into poverty.
Provider and welfare
Grudem also explains what happens when a nation takes on the role of ‘provider’ by determining who will get paid to work and how much they get paid. “The modern welfare state is still living off earlier prosperity, but it is quickly discovering that current tax income falls massively short of promised obligations. The entitlement state is collapsing. These systems neglect many (and sometimes all) of the factors that matter most for economic growth: the rule of law, private ownership of property, specialization and free trade, economic freedom, and the incentives necessary to create wealth and the hope of reward. “ p131.
When a nation makes laws that make it’s government the provider for its people it is settings itself against the Lord. The nation is saying that it is not up to the Lord to look out for people and cause their businesses to prosper, rather they will overrule God and determine who prospers and who does not. It turns out that this results in national poverty, as men lose the incentive to produce new wealth by their own hard work, which results in no new wealth, no growth. This is exactly what the nations are experiencing today - no growth. To make matters worse, it is impossible to pay down debts without growth and the nations of the world today have never had more debt than they do now.
In conclusion, Grudem and Barry give the economic solution to prosperity for all nations. “What we are saying throughout this book is that obedience to biblical teachings in the conduct of government and economic systems in a nation leads to increasing prosperity, and that belief in biblical values also contributes to prosperity in the lives of individuals and nations. “
This book proves that prosperity does not exist in any nation without following God laws. And when a nation rejects Gods advice, it falls into poverty. When all the nations reject God, the entire global economy falls into poverty.
Christ is more than the solution to our sins, He is the solution to the economy.