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Tuesday, August 25, 2015
The stock market, judgment, and you
Americans have lost some $1.8 TRILLION in the stock market this year–most of it in the last few days, according to Steve Goldstein of MarketWatch.com. Goldstein reports that the Federal Reserve’s financial accounts of the United States report indicated that American households and nonprofits held $24.1 trillion in stocks as of March 31. He calculated the percentage of loss suffered by the Dow Jones Total Stock Market index and found that by midmorning Monday, “that number had dropped to $22.2 trillion.” He reminded readers of the third quarter of 2011, when $2.8 trillion was “wiped away” and that it took another four quarters (a full year) to gain back the money. In other words, we are in for a long haul.
Before we credit God for the misfortune that befalls us proclaiming that judgment is upon America for all of its immoral and ungodly deeds, we should take a look at ourselves as a nation and the practices we have employed. There are many economic policies that lead up to a market crash. George W Bush’s quantitative easy policy was a major one. Quantitative Easing is where our government funded the Federal Reserve’s purchases of financial assets from commercial banks and other financial institutions (translated Wall Street) to prop up the US economy. He raised the national debt by $5.8 trillion to $11.6 trillion. The current “president” accelerated the policy, and the national debt is now $18.3 trillion and growing.
To make matters worse, the banking industry has accumulated great wealth by this policy while taxpayers are in triple jeopardy–it is our taxes that would pay for the debt, and we are already paying for the policy. In addition, when the US Government decides to quit bailing out bankers and financial institutions, the economy will break down, placing even more burden on taxpayers. This is a grievous situation at best and disastrous at worse. Combine this with the burden of those who are allowed unfettered entry across our borders–due to the policies of the current “president”–the standard of living in America could collapse.
One could make the case that since Biblical practices of good stewardship were not followed, the judgment of God is upon us. However, there is clear evidence that the decision-making of a disengaged society and the resulting poor leadership are causing disastrous consequences. The judgment of God, His wrath, however, comes on the Day of the Lord. Revelation 8:1 says, “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.” Verse 13 says, “Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth…” This is judgment. Ultimately, the financial ruin we are facing is the consequence of our own making. We must engage with society, raise the standard, and hold accountability to the precepts and principles of God Almighty. It starts in the house of the Lord–our body is the temple.
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