Concentration of Risk

When I talk with people about the economy, I often end up saying the same thing: Concentration of control or capital is concentration of risk. I take that as a basic assumption about economics of scale.

I was pleased to see that Peter Bregman from the Harvard Business Review agrees. In Why Small Companies Will Win in this Economy, Bregman points back to the fundamentals:

Small companies with low overhead, reliable owners, a small number of committed employees, personal client relationships, and sustainable business models that drive a reasonable profit are the great opportunity of our time.

Small is the new big. Sustainable is the new growth. Trust is the new competitive advantage.

The fact is that these are not just the great opportunity of our time; they are the fundamentals of any time. Small businesses allow for a level of trust and personal connection - among employees, and between employees and clients - that are difficult, if not impossible, for large entities to match.

Why is this so? The gospel tells us that we were made for true relatedness - with God and one another. The only way that trust and true mutual relatedness grow is in real relationships. And these thrive, not in big groups, but small. This is one of the many ways that gospel entrepreneurs can embody and offer hope in a famine of hope.

Measuring our economy

I haven't posted here in a really long time because I've been hard at work on tumblon. However, I think this is probably still the ideal context to reflect on gospel entrepreneurship, however fitfully.

In working on tumblon, I came to this realization: I yearn for the day when we measure our economy not by the goods it produces, but by the good it does. Then, and only then, will "growth" find its rightful place in economics.

Recession, Repentance and Remission

Right now 'recession' is the word on the street. There are two words that are no less important but get far less press: repentance and remission. As I have quoted Lesslie Newbigin elsewhere:

". . . Increased production has become an end in itself; products are designed to become rapidly obsolete so as to make room for more production; a minority is ceaselessly urged to multiply its wants in order to keep the process going while the majority lacks the basic necessities for existence; and the whole ecosystem upon which human life depends is threatened with destruction. Growth is for the sake of growth and is not determined by any overarching social purpose. And that, of course, is an exact account of the phenomenon which, when it occurs in the human body, is called cancer." (Foolishness to the Greeks p114, emphasis mine)

We are entering a time of recession because our growth has been cancerous. This is a mercy if we will receive it with repentance. God may even see fit to put our cancerous growth into remission if we will repent.

True repentance requires not just limiting our spending, but changing our entire trajectory. It is not merely about limiting unsustainable production, but radically altering the purposes for which we produce. Furthermore, there can be no genuine repentance without reference to the One whom we have offended. As Christians in our time, the desperate need is to exemplify and call for repentance that has Christ as its center of reference - rather than the environment, or industry, or anything else.

In order for this repentance to occur, we must transgress the public/private divide that says that religious language does not belong in public dialogue. This is part of our repentance, the claim that Christ's authority is not limited to those who confess Him, but is over all of humanity. I know no other way to begin this call than through humble, prayerful study of the Scriptures, and faithful, consistent action in the world. God grant us repentance!

Cancerous growth

As I continue to hear pundits talking about recession, Lesslie Newbigin's words ring in my ears:

. . . Increased production has become an end in itself; products are designed to become rapidly obsolete so as to make room for more production; a minority is ceaselessly urged to multiply its wants in order to keep the process going while the majority lacks the basic necessities for existence; and the whole ecosystem upon which human life depends is threatened with destruction. Growth is for the sake of growth and is not determined by any overarching social purpose. And that, of course, is an exact account of the phenomenon which, when it occurs in the human body, is called cancer. (Foolishness to the Greeks p114, emphasis mine)

I think there can be no question that at this time in history, growth is for the sake of growth, and is not determined by any overarching social purpose - except perhaps the rebuilding of Babel. So dire is our condition that our 'prophets' (those on the television, who tell us what is to come) mourn that the growth might abate.

I cannot think of a better description of our economic system than cancerous. It is therefore incumbent upon Christians not to engage mindlessly in a terminally ill system, but through purposeful businesses to function as a sign, instrument and foretaste of the Kingdom of God.

Growth for the sake of growth

"Since Adam Smith, we have learned to assume that exponential growth is the basic law of economics and that no limits can be set to it. The result is that increased production has become an end in itself; products are designed to become rapidly obsolete so as to make room for more production; a minority is ceaselessly urged to multiply its wants in order to keep the process going while the majority lacks the basic necessities for existence; and the who ecosystem upon which human life depends is threatened with destruction. Growth is for the sake of growth and is not determined by any overarching social purpose. And that, of course, is an exact account of the phenomenon which, when it occurs in the human body, is called cancer." (Lesslie Newbigin Foolishness to the Greeks p115, emphasis mine)

In light of looming recession, Newbigin's words are extremely apropos. We have come to think that cancerous growth is normal, and even essential - even though we are aware that it is built on greed and exploitation of the poor and the environment. If we would embody the Good News of Christ, we must find ways to engage in sustainable, healthy economic growth.