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[German Version] Before…

[German Version] The household is a social unit organized to meet the basic needs of its members. It is the central locus where provision is made for living – the producer of prosperity per se. A household acquires goods in the marketplace and converts them, investing time and self-…

[German Version] The goal of economic activity (Economy) is to produce goods to satisfy human needs. Benefits accrue from having this take place in the context of division of labor. But these benefits can be realized only when there is a mechanism to govern the division of labor. A market economy is such a mechanism. In a market economy, individual participants are free to pursue their own economic interests within the context of the existing legal system. This opportunity increases their motivati…

[German Version] In the narrower sense, the world economic order comprises the control systems (institutions) that regulate the international exchange of goods and services (commercial regulation and financial regulation). In the broader sense, it also includes institutions that regulated the global environmental effects of economic activity and international agreements regarding labor and social standards (environmental and social order). The basic problem faced by all international regulatory systems is the “p…

[German Version] I. Few concepts in economics are as slippery as the concept of “capital.” “Capital” can be defined narrowly or broadly, in terms of macro-economics or of business, according to theories of production or distribution; moreover, “capital” means something different to political scientists and sociologists than it does to economists. In a very general economic sense, “capital” may be understood to include anything which alongside unqualified work acts either as a prer…

[German Version] If there is only a single seller in a market, we have a (supply) monopoly. The situation when there is a single buyer is called monopsony. If a market involves a single seller and a single buyer, we speak of a bilateral monopoly. Monopolistic structures can arise through many causes. One is a reduction of unit costs, which can come about through expanded production enabled by increasing internal specialization. The first producer to take advantage of this possibility can ultimately undersell all other producers (Competition) and drive them from the market (“natural monopoly”). The combination of several enterprises in a cartel can also lead to a monopoly. Typical of such a cartel is generally the endeavor of those involved to eliminate the risks that would arise from competition. Finally, a monopoly can also result from a political choice, an example be…

[German Version] When foreign trade is free of competition-limiting state intervention, we speak of free trade. The classics of national economics already had it as one of their main tenets. They justified it philosophically and by its prosperity increasing effects. But the disputes of that time already demonstrate the degree of difficulty in accomplishing free competition between domestic and foreign vendors. Success in breaking the opposition of the landed gentry and adopting a liberalization of…

[German Version] The concept of planned ec…

[German Version] If a debtor can no longer make the amortization and interest payments (“debt service”) for which he or she is obligated under a credit agreement, then one may speak of a “debt crisis.” In recent decades, the public has been especially aware of the debt crisis of the developing and emerging countries (Third World). This has both internal and external causes: the mismanagement of investment projects financed with foreign credit; a failed economic policy that undermined the profitability of private investment projects; an increase in the international interest rate (Interest: III) caused by the monetary policy (Money) of the leading industrial states whereby – with variable credit rates – current interest payments increased in an unexpected manner; a withdrawal of international capital investors because they had lost confidence in the economic and political stability of a country – or also simply because other countries with comparable initial conditions had discontinued their payments so that a “contagion effe…

[German Version] (Feb 13, 1766, Rookery, near Guildford – Dec 23, 1834, Bath, England). After studies at Cambridge, Malthus spent several years as a parish priest. In 1805 he was appointed professor of political economy at a college of the East India Company, where he taught until his death. He became ¶ …

[German Version] Economics is a social activity. It is systematically related to other social processes. It would therefore be a mistake to consider such a serious economic problem as unemployment from an economic perspective alone. Such a perspective is indispensible, but too narrow. It would be particularly inappropriate to call for a solution to the problem from political economists, and to expect corresponding prescriptions from economic theorists, without at the same time considering prevailing behavior and attitudes to the subject in society.…

[German Version] When buyers (consumers) and sellers (providers) of goods and services meet, the result …

[German Version] Population policy comes into play when population growth becomes a problem. This is especially the case when food production does not keep pace with this growth or when it is accompanied by greater consumption of natural resources and discharge of pollutants into the natural environment than is compatible with the goal of a “sustainable” economy (Sustainability). In the most general sense, the concept of “sustainable development” implies that that the needs of the present be satis…

[German Version] I. Economics – II. Ethics I. Economics The term “competition” is linked with the idea of rivalry, but the Latin competere…

[German Version] I. Scope – II. History and Disciplines – III. Present Foci of Interest – IV. Significance for Theology I. Scope Traditionally economics has been defined primarily by its subject matter. It is the branch of inquiry that deals with economic phenomena (Economy: I). Methodologic…

[German Version] I. Geopolitical Survey – II. History of Religion – III. Christianity I. Geopolitical Survey Africa presents a troubled, contradictory picture. Its population is growing faster than that of any other continent. Civil wars and repeated periods of drought force millions to flee. An aggressive Islamism is unsettling the fragile equilibrium of multireligious societie…

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[German Version] I. The Concept – II. Economic Systems and their Theories – III. Economy and Religion I. The Concept The term economy encompasses the totality of all individual actions and social interactions that serve to produce goods (commodities or services [Service sector]) for the purpose of satisfying human needs (Consumption). As a rule, the “production” of commodities means that human labor and …