Theology and Economic Failure

Quote of the day:
“I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such as that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms.”
--Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve

This is a more-revealing statement than first appears. Greenspan has an eminently reasonable and thoughtful response to the financial crisis and what caused it. There are those who say it's all his fault, because, as always, we need to have someone or something to blame for our problems, especially the serious ones. And he certainly bears significant responsibility.

But there is something much bigger at work, and David Brooks describes it here.

Economic matters are always talked about as a set of rational processes with clear explanations. We attempt to make judgments based on our understanding of these processes. But not really, as it turns out.

We actually make decisions based on our perceptions, which are quite tricky. It is this way in religion, too. We think we are religious or not religious based on rational, thoughtful analysis of some kind. We don't realize that we begin with perceptions involving complex, underlying, unconscious assumptions. What we see we see through these filters.

From a theological standpoint, a key underlying assumption is either "I can trust people" or "I can't trust people." None of us are aware of how our perceptions are shaped unless we examine ourselves honestly.

Alan Greenspan's assumption was "I can trust people"--that is, people and institutions would work efficiently in attempting to make money for themselves and their shareholders.