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Stocking Up

Although once exclusively a playground for the elite, the stock market has become a game open to nearly everyone. In fact, it is estimated that over 40% of American households now have some stake in the Dow. Low interest rates for savings, replacement of pensions with 401k's and user-friendly Internet stock trading are among the factors that have contributed to the routing of Main Street to Wall Street. This growing interest in stocks is coupled with and related to a significant growth in jobs and incomes in the latter part of the 1990's.

Less than a decade ago, however, America was experiencing a transitional economy in which layoffs were understood to be an integral part corporate life. Good jobs were difficult to find. Severe economic shifts caused a fair amount of concern and discontent among American workers. The security of a lifetime job in the private sector had ended. The future looked uncertain. But even with enjoyment of prosperity in the present, such uncertainty can and will return. And, of course, all of the security in this world is merely tentative. This awareness should cause us to reflect on the things that last. Do not biblical principles warn us against forgetting moral obligations in the bountiful times? Do we take heed of these warnings?

—Leadership University Editor/Webmaster, Byron Barlowe


Feature Articles:

Morality, Prosperity
Gene Edward Veith
Despite what some politicians say, a free-market economy requires a moral culture.

Money: A Biblical Point of View
Christian Leadership Institute
What does the Bible say about money? Is it all bad?

Choosing Abundance
John P. Sisk
Considerations of waste and abundance in modern society.

Wealth and Poverty
Kerby Anderson
What do biblical views of wealth and poverty have to tell us about living today?

With Liberty and Justice for Whom? The Recent Evangelical Debate Over Capitalism
Amy L. Sherman (book review)
A book reveals the different ways in which Evangelicals think of capitalism.



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