The Current Economic Problems in the U.S.

Written by John Lifflander on February 13, 2010.

As I read about the economic crisis we are currently in, I feel led to warn Christians about their investments. I know all the pundits are saying that we are simply in a cycle, and they are all waiting for the market to come back as it always has before - in stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. However, I do not believe that we are in a cycle - I believe we are going towards a destination, and it will not be pleasant.

Besides Bible teaching, I also write and teach about economics, particularly in reference to real estate. If anyone would like my latest article, I will email it to them - just request it by emailing me at john@liffland.com. It explains U.S. economic policy, and how it changed after the Great Depression, and the theoretical reasons for the government's current economic actions. Without going into details, we are suffering from the illusion of Keynesian economics. We think we can defy reality and defy economic laws by manipulating the money supply, but we will fail.

Economic laws are like gravity - one can only defy them only for so long. If a family is in debt and cannot pay what they owe, they may be able to get by for a short period of time, but eventually they will no longer be able to borrow and will go bankrupt. I would compare this to a person jumping up and defying gravity for a short amount of time. Our country, since it prints money, is seeking to defy economic laws the way an airplane defies gravity. A plane can stay up for a lot longer than a person jumping, but eventually it will run out of fuel, and must land. And when it does, it will be much higher, and have a much greater fall, than an individual jumping.

I think our country has the same mentality as Samson did when he thought he was still invincible. He kept getting involved with ungodly women and situations, and thought he would always be able to count on his super-strength to deliver him. However, he played his hand too long, and the Bible says that he did not know that God had left him:

Judg 16:20 (NKJV) And she said, "The Philistines [are] upon you, Samson!" So he awoke from his sleep, and said, "I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!" But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.
21 Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.

America does not know it yet, but God's protection is leaving us very quickly, and our economic strength is part of the blessings we are seeing diminish, which will not return. We are like Samson, thinking that everything will be as it was before, once we go through this "cycle." Economists keep pointing to past cycles to prove that we must come back again, but they don't realize the supernatural aspect of our country's success. Like Israel, in the book of Hosea, America does not realize the source of her blessings:

Hose 2:8 (NKJV) For she did not know
That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil,
And multiplied her silver and gold--
[Which] they prepared for Baal.
9 "Therefore I will return and take away
My grain in its time
And My new wine in its season,
And will take back My wool and My linen,
[Given] to cover her nakedness.

I believe that all investments will diminish, no matter what is invested in (except God's Kingdom). I think that God is draining this country of its excesses - the money invested in many different things will all be lost, until we are a much poorer nation with a much lower standard of living. We will continue to see a reduction of the value of things until many more billions or trillions are lost, and then we will see such great inflation and heavy taxation that our standard of living will be greatly reduced.

This message may not give anyone the "lift" the TV preachers supply with the pillow-prophet (profit?) messages, but I believe it is the truth.

I do not take donations, and I am not a non-profit, so please do not send any money for any reason.

In His Service,

John Lifflander