January, 1942
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
9
But our subject is “Can Inflation be Controlled?” Our Government is at tempting to control it. -We should emphasize the word "attempting." Possibly the word I am about to use has never appeared in the pages of THE KING’S BUSINESS. Nevertheless, it will undoubtedly be understood by all of its readers. A prominent Wash ington news weekly discussed the sub ject of stopping inflation and particu larly the talk that was going on in Washington toward that end. That “chatter,” it said, was “just so much bunk.” I Speaking now from a purely, econo mic viewpoint, divorced entirely from my faith in God and in His Word, I would say that inflation can be controlled, but there is danger tiiat it will not be controlled, and that un doubtedly it will be permitted to run its course. I do not mean that that course must necessarily end in the manner experienced in Germany after Woild War I. We are far from that end—but no one Who krioWs anything about economics and finance would risk his reputation/'as a forecaster. ' The-debacle in 1929 after the infla tion of the late twenties would appear in retrospect as merely a break in- trend, in comparison to what could happen. At least it is interesting to observe what is going on in Great Britain- where the Bank of England has been obliged to constantly in crease its “Fiduciary Note Issue,” a high-sounding phrase for paper which has no backing but hope in the future. Accompanying this increase in “fiat money” to a total now approximately L780,000,000, there have been hoard ing and a spiral-like rise in prices. If it should be claimed that our own Congress has authorized a “green back” issue of the same amount—at least it has not yet been used. And then we still have twice as much gold (based on present value) as Great Britain has. We regret to confess that there are forces at work so definitely selfish as to be concerned entirely with what they can get momentarily. The greed for power far outweighs the greed for wealth and in my judgment is the major factor to be considered. What Are Christians to Do About This Situation? Under the present circumstances, should Christians bury their Lord’s money (it is never “their” money) in the earth as did the wicked and selfish servant whom the Lord severely re buked? (Matt. 25:26, 27). That of course hardly would do any of us any good, since the money we, now have is merely paper. Our Government already has taken the gold (including gold certificates)' away from us and
has buried, it in the earth. Now, should we pull in our purse strings and stint on supporting the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way? The answer to that question was likewise given by our Lord:> “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:34). We may never expe rience what believers- in other coun tries are now experiencing, but who knows whether in the near future we will be deprived of the opportu nity to support and sustain the Lord’s work? But some one may say, This all sounds so nice—it is good in theory, but I have to support my own family and I must look after my own needs. True! the Lord never told us to be indifferent toward our own situation, or family. In fact, the Word of God tells us that if w e ,do not look after our own, we are worse than infidels. Nevertheless, “ there is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but It tendeth to poverty” (Prov. 11:24).
God’s Resources Happily for us, we have several instances in Scripture o f‘inflation. No problem ever confronted a Christian individually or the Christian church collectively, but faced believers in other ages. The answer to every prob lem is to be found in the Word of God. We shall note two cases of in flation from the Scriptures. Inflation may result from famine, war, and/or economic disturbances. When Joseph was a prisoner in Egypt, God revealed to Pharaoh through his- prisoner that a famine was coming in the land for a period of seven years, but that it would be preceded by an abundance for seven years. All are' acquainted with what happened. With g r e a t ingenuity, Joseph “cornered” the grain market. As the famine continued its course, the price of bread went up to prohibi tive levels; in fact, there was no bread [ Continued on Page 26J
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