Divine Economy Theory And Democritis (c.470-c370 BC)

Of course I am also identifying the early contributions to the classical liberalism tradition but if words can be understood as a standard conveyor of meaning there are also glimmerings of divine theory from these early years.

Murray Rothbard gives the honorable distinction - of being the father of subjective value theory - to Democritis. He quotes Democritis as saying "The same thing" may be "good and true for all men, but the pleasant differs from one and another."

The second half of this statement demonstrates that people make decisions as individuals with unique needs and values, that is, subjectively.

The first half of the statement hints at a universal truth that defines the human operating system. What was a hint is now a known concept. The hinted at universal truth is that all human beings are created to know and love God whether conscious of it or not.

What the divine microeconomy theory proves is that it is the appearance of the attributes of God in every good and service that makes them desirable. All value in the human world manifests itself in the economy and the economy is a divine institution that connects the means and ends according to the 'truths' sought by the human reality. The human reality can be summed up by five words: purposeful action by spiritual beings.

Contrast this understanding with the glimmerings from 2376 years ago. In one way there is not much difference but in another way there is a vast difference. The spiritual understanding of how the world operates as elucidated by the divine economy theory moves economic science away from its infancy and towards its maturity.

Empirical Economists Forecast Worse Than Meteorologists!

When I was in college I took a meteorology class. One project was to use complex mathematical models to predict the effect of different objects on the microweather. How would a shift in wind direction alter the effect of a stationary object such as a tree on the microweather? These models were designed with great detail to incorporate the laws of physics to the 'infinite' degree.

What this proves is that meteorological events are extremely complex even at the microlevel. Is it any wonder why the daily weather forecasts (a macro event) are educated guesses? The weather forecast record demonstrates this fact.

Now consider the fact that these meteorological forces lack the ability to 'change their minds!' Humans change their minds all the time and that is their God-given right. Even if humanity operated as inanimate forces the forecasts would seldom be correct, as shown by the above meteorological example. But humans do not behave in a way that empiricism requires. We make decisions subjectively!

Why should we rigidly impose an incorrect methodology on the science of economics rather than simply using a methodology that is compatible with human action? Subjectivism uncovers universal principles of human action and it supports the use of human logic to describe the uncertain future, the present circumstances, and the cause and effect of past events. One of many examples of the accuracy of the subjectivist methodology can be seen in a book by Murray Rothbard entitled "America's Great Depression."

Empirical economists are worse forecasters than meteorologists not simply because of the extra complexity of the system but because the appropriate methodology for social sciences is subjectivism not empiricism. The empiricists' equations do not even have the firm foundation of physics to validate them. Exposing them as interventionists is an inevitable outcome of the divine economy theory.

Divine Economy Theory Q&A #3: How Is The Intense Competition Faced By Businesses Divine?

Out of frustration some have called it a 'rat race!" A far cry from divine!

What we have to understand is that competitive entrepreneurship is part of human nature. And what we have to understand is that humans value those things that satisfy their essential nature, ultimately their spiritual nature.

It is no small task for the business owner to identify the attributes of his or her product that attract the buyers. As this is discerned the goal of the entrepreneur is to find a way to improve the delivery of this attribute either by product quality or quantity or by price or by the conveyence of information. Each entrepreneur is trying to accomplish this. The competitive entrepreneur also seeks ways to overcome the constraints of limited capital. Not all options are available even if discovered.

This does not offer much solace to a business that is suffering. Even in a divine economy there is no guarantee that an entrepreneur/producer will succeed (in serving the consumer). One thing is for sure though, in a divine economy there will not be competition from businesses that use the corruption of the interventionists to gain an unfair advantage.

Once this corruption starts it poisons the whole economy. Anyone who acts like intervention is beneficial is closing their eyes to the disruption it causes. It undermines society in so many ways. For example it replaces trustworthiness with sleaziness.

It takes principled determination to counteract intervention in these dark days of economic ignorance. Hopefully the understanding that all value comes from the consumer seeking after the attributes of God, expressed in various ways in products, will give the edge to competitive entrepreneurs educated in the divine economy theory.