• In Matthew 20:1-16 Jesus tells a parable and uses the labor market of His day as an example of the Kingdom of God. What lessons does the parable contain in how we should think about wages and the labor market today?

 

In Matthew 20:1-16 Jesus tells a parable and uses the labor market of His day as an example of the Kingdom of God. In 150+ words, explain what lessons the parable has in how we should think about wages and the labor market today.

Matthew 20:1-16

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend.Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

1. What is the difference between self-interest and selfishness? Why is this distinction important when considering the competitive market economy as appropriate for a society?

2. Does your textbook present only positive economics and avoid and normative economics? If not, give some examples of normative issues covered in your textbook.

3. What did Adam Smith believe serves to curb self-interest in an economy?

4. What does it mean to seek the kingdom of God in a democratic capitalist economy? How can it be done?

In one to two paragraphs use the tools of supply and demand to explain what happened in II Kings 7:16-20. What do you think happened to elasticity as well?

II Kings 7:16-20

Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of the finest flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, as the LORD had said. Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house. It happened as the man of God had said to the king:œ"About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria." The officer had said to the man of God, "Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?" The man of God had replied, "You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!". And that is exactly what happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.