.jpg)
Occasionally we pass a moment in life where a collection of experiences and learning come together. Today was such a day. I had every intention of following a certain thought in writing this. I was looking for information on Aristotle and his thoughts on economics and finance. This research led me to information that is relevant today.
How does Aristotle play into Personal Finance? The answer starts with my college education. At the beginning of my college career I took Micro and Macro Economics from the same professor. He taught from his knowledge of the subject matter and not the text. I remember two statements he made clearly. The first was that we didn’t need to buy the text, as he would teach the material on the board. Of course, this helped my meager college finances tremendously. The second was that Economics came from Aristotle and his concern for the welfare of the home or household.
Unfortunately this professor did not site any specific reference. So I decided to search the internet for confirmation. The word economics was formed by Aristotle to describe the welfare of the household. Economics comes from the Greek words Oikos, meaning household, and Nomos, meaning rules. These articles reminded me of a quote by Thomas Jefferson, “The tailor who has made thousands in one day…can never again be content with the…moderate earnings of his needle”. This market crisis is as much a result of us, as individual households, looking for quick and large profits, as it is a factor of our government. Unfortunately, these profits did not last.
The essence of the overall economy starts with the household. If this were not true, the national economy would not be struggling as it is. Unfortunately, while most citizens realize that we must save more, our government is attempting to spend us out of “bust” and into “boom” by extending our deficit and ultimately our national debt. Much of this new debt is not even domestic, but foreign. We now face the prospect of a future burden on every household to accommodate this increase in our national debt.
The best way out of the mess we are in is to follow a slow course of saving and paying down debt. One of the greatest follies in political thought is the idea that we can completely control our economy through government intervention. Our best hope for a sustained recovery is the welfare and strength of our own households. The less debt and more savings we have the more flexibility we have to weather economic downturns. This strength must come from responsible family and personal finances.
Comments