Overheard at Church

Continuing with themes and perspective on the financial crisis, thought I'd pass along a comment from our church's recent overview of Philippians:

Who is more content, a man with $5 million dollars or a man with 5 kids?


The man with 5 kids.


Why? Because he doesn't want anymore!

Simply another good reminder to have what you want and want what you have.  Have a great week everyone!

Perspective

Perhaps, despite all our learnings and technical advances over the years, we're not as smart as we think we are. Consider the following quote from Adam Smith, author of "The Wealth of Nations" in 1776:

A profitably speculation is presented as a public good because growth will stimulate demand and everywhere diffuse comfort and improvement. No patriot or man of feeling could therefore oppose it. But the nature of this growth, in opposition, for example, to older ideas such as cultivation, is that it is at once undirected and infinitely self-generating in the endless demand for all the useless things in the world."

Heard this on the radio yesterday and found it to be a nice reminder from history regarding our current financial situation. Refreshing insights gleaned from Adam Smith were presented nicely by London Business School founder, Charles Handy, the highlights of which I've included below. Full transcript of the story can be found here.

"Well, I think governments are faced with a difficult problem. They are trying to get people to spend. But it does seem a rather un-Adam Smith idea to get people to go out shopping in order to get the economy going again. More "useless things," in other words. But in order to get that happening, they have reduced the base rate from the Federal Reserve or the Bank of England, in order to get people finding it easier to borrow. But actually there are more savers than borrowers in society. And so, of course, now the savers are not going to save because there's no incentive to it. So, I'm not sure that the solution is going to be easy to get by, and I think it'll take about three years for things to bottom out."

"But there may be some good news in all of that. I mean we may get back to a saner kind of world -- what Adam Smith called "cultivation" or "civilization" -- where we don't all sort of spend our life trying to make money, to buy things we don't really need to impress the neighbors, and so on. Where we actually do work -- not 60 hours a week, but 40 hours a week. Where we actually do take holidays. Where we actually get to know our kids again. Where it actually becomes smart to have a tiny car, to walk and bicycle and these sorts of things. And we may find we enjoy it actually just as much as the hectic pace that we've seen in recent years. I've often said that capitalism, particularly in America, is a very exhausting business. It tires people out."

Anyway, just thought this was an interesting way to think about things but, alas, it's late and I've got to head up the little stairs, in my little house, and to my little bed - so I can get a little sleep. Have a great weekend everyone!