Mere Economics Lessons for and from the Ordinary Business of Life

by Carden, Art; Fuller, Caleb S.

• ISBN13: 9798384504962
• ISBN10: 8384504962
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2025-04-01
• Publisher: B&H Academic

Summary

When one hears the word “economics,” it is easy to conjure up images of charts, graphs, and spreadsheets. One might think of traders, clamoring to buy and sell various stocks from companies that the normal man has never even heard of or seen. Or, more likely, they might think of accountants, crunching away numbers in a cubicle, trying to balance budgets.

This, however, is not the reality for Art Carden and Caleb Fuller. In their book, Mere Economics, these professors do more than simply discuss the realities of economic theory. They highlight the reality that there is a Christian case for one’s involvement in the economy. Mere Economics points to the basic principles of economic theory with a tone that is conversational and inviting, with the hope that the everyday Christian will not only discover helpful insight into the world of economics, but will find within it the call for responsibility and stewardship.

Author Biography

Art Carden (PhD, Washington University) is Margaret Gage Bush distinguished professor of Business and Medical Properties Trust fellow at Samford University’s Brock School of Business.

Caleb S. Fuller (PhD from George Mason University) is associate professor of economics at Grove City College, research fellow at the Independent Institute, and faculty affiliate of the Program on Economics and Privacy at the George Mason University Scalia Law School.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 
How To Use This Book 
Introduction: This Is Our Father’s World: Meditations on the Ordinary Business of Life 

Chapter 1: They Feast on the Abundance of Your House: Hobbesian Horrors and Walmart Wonders
Chapter 2: Thinking about the Ordinary Business of Life: Economic Essentials and Economic Errors 
Chapter 3: You Can’t Always Get What You Want: Our Great Economic Problem 
Chapter 4: Multiplication through Division: The Miraculous Division of Labor 
Chapter 5: You Can Always Depend on the Knowledge of Strangers: The Miraculous Division of Knowledge 
Chapter 6: What Does It Profit a Man? Profits, Losses, and Production 
Chapter 7: The Laborer Is Worthy of His Wages: How Markets Determine Wages and Working Conditions 
Chapter 8: “Tough Weed” or “Delicate Flower”? Monopolies and Competition
Chapter 9: Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness: When Policies Make Prices Lie 
Chapter 10: The Works of the Flesh: The Economics of Sin and Prohibition 
Chapter 11: Rendering unto Caesar: Taxes, Spending, and Unintended Consequences 
Chapter 12: Put Not Your Trust in Princes: Who Watches the Watchers? 
Chapter 13: Dominion and Domination: Solving the Progress Puzzle
Chapter 14: Make More, Take Less: Meditations on the Extraordinary Business of Life 

Glossary
Bibliography
About the Authors
General Index
Scripture Index