An Economic Policy That is Neither Left Nor Right

In the course of researching something completely unrelated, I came across this description of the "economic philosophy" of the old Association for the Advancement of Christian Scholarship (AACS) from the March/April1982 issue of Perspective magazine. Knowing some folks who are interested in getting beyond the old left/right or libertarian vs. socialist arguments in economics, I wonder whether these words are helpful? Out-of-date? Refreshing? Old hat?

What is the economic philosophy of the AACS? It is based on the principle of sphere sovereignty which Abraham Kuyper developed in the battle for freedom of education. The sphere of education, Kuyper argued, must be clearly distinguished from the sphere of the state. The central task of the first sphere is learning, that of the second is justice. The authority of those who hold office in the sphere of education must thus be carefully distinguished from that of those who hold office in government. Mixing the two types of authority leads to educational collectivism.

The same principle applies to business. The business of business must be clearly distinguished from the business of government. In business we are concerned with the production of goods, either agricultural or industrial. Assigning this task to the state leads to economic collectivism or social ism. This spells disaster, as we have seen again in Poland where the economy is in ruins. Business belongs to the private sector, not the public. 

The application of the principle of sphere sovereignty does not undermine the responsibility of the business community. Rather, it accentuates it. It holds that the individual entrepreneur, the farming family, the business corporation and the multinational are accountable to God and to their fellow creatures for a responsible handling of economic affairs. In other words, the freedom of the businessman——individually or corporately——is subject to guidelines and norms which can be summed up with the word “stewardship.”

The principle of stewardship involves a proper balance between “tilling” and “keeping” of which we read in the first chapter of the Bible. Too much tilling leads to exploitation of natural resources. Too much keeping or preserving leads to economic stagnation.

Businessmen, like all of us, may violate the divinely given norms of stewardship. This may lead to bankruptcy--the absence of profit. It may undermine other spheres of authority in society, such as marriage and the family, for example, by the production of faulty goods, payment of inadequate wages, or violation of earth and atmosphere. In such cases, it is the task of the government to establish public justice—to prevent the undermining of one sphere in society by another. But such intervention does not imply the absorption of business into the state, as the socialist generally suggests. Instead, it implies the restoration of the businessman’s normed responsibility in his own sphere of action.

The economic philosophy of the AACS is not “rightist” because, though it defends freedom of enterprise, it places that freedom under the norm of economic responsibility. The economic philosophy of the AACS is not “leftist” because, when confronted with violations of economic norms, it does not defend socialism but rehabilitation of business responsibility. The economic philosophy of the AACS aims at recovering the biblical guidelines for a free society in which the responsibility of the individual and the corporation are reasserted.

(Source: https://ir.icscanada.edu/bitstream/handle/10756/277622/PERS_1982_16-2.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y)