Honest Money

I just took off the shelf a book printed in 1986 by Dr. Gary North, Honest Money: Biblical Principles of Money and Banking. Truly honest money is market-produced monies coupled with 100% reserve banking. "So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed." Gen 47:15 He says: "In Egypt, the money failed because everyone wanted the same thing, grain, and nobody was willing to give up any grain except the Pharaoh. Trade either ceased or slowed down drastically. Money ceased to serve as a means of trade. The famine made people poor, and as trade was reduced, they became even poorer. The division of labor collapsed. This means that the specialization of production collapsed." The principles governing the value of money are these: 1. Economic action begins with an ordered set of wants (first, second, third, etc.). 2. A world of scarcity doesn't permit us to achieve all of our desires at the same time. 3. To increase output, we need capital (tools). 4. We have to sacrifice present income in order to obtain capital. 5. The value of the tool to each person is dependent on the expected value (to him) of the futher output of the tool 6. Value is imputed by a person to goods and services; it is therefore subjective. 7. Past costs are economically irrelevant; present and future income are all that matter. He predicted a time of "international financial crisis of historically unprecendented proportions." Maybe it is now upon us??? He says the Christian's job is to begin obeying God's laws in advance, to show good faith. A man deeply in debt can be only half-hearted in his commitment to honest, debt-free money. Now is the good time to begin getting out of debt, so that you can in good conscience and full devotion proclaim the Biblical principles of honest money.