Book

Economics in Christian Perspective:  Theory, Policy and Life Choices (IVP Academic, 2007).

Unemployment. Environmental damage. Poverty.

In this book, my Hope colleague and I critically engage mainstream economic theory and policy recommendations to provide guidance for faithfully and responsibly addressing these and other important economic issues. Affirming that a just and prosperous society depends for its continued success on maintaining the right balance of power among three principal spheres—democratic governments, market-organized economies, and strong moral and cultural institutions—we demonstrate how Christian principles and values guide and undergird a flourishing and just economy.

Serious Christians today are surrounded on all sides by issues and challenges that compete for their attention, action, and monetary contributions.   Local poverty, global poverty, pollution—these and other important challenges all compete for our time, our concern, and our personal resources.  And sometimes it seems like doing something about one problem might make another one worse.  For example, it's possible that creating jobs could lead to more pollution.  So it's not surprising that many Christians today find themselves in a state of moral arrest over the major issues of the day, not knowing which problems to attack first, much less how to go about tackling them.   This book will give Christians everywhere a basic feel for the economic way of thinking, so that they can approach such issues with not only with deep concern, but also with greater wisdom and hope.  After all, if today's big challenges really are worth doing something about, then we will all want to be effective stewards of God's abundant gifts, channeling those gifts in ways that can make the biggest possible difference.
 
 

• You can read the preface here and the first chapter here.
• And here is the publisher's page of reviews and endorsements.
• Here is the review published in the Journal of Church & State.
• In December 2007 I gave a feature-length invertview to Brent Siddall for TransWorldRadio-UK.  You can listen to the entire interview here (mp3 format).

You can view these papers (or their abstracts) and reviews by clicking on the links. I will add more links as more of the papers become available online.  (Some of them are in Adobe Acrobat format; if you do not have an Adobe Acrobat reader, you can download it for free here.)

Claar, Victor V. 2006. “Is the NAIRU More Useful in Forecasting Inflation than the Natural Rate of Unemployment?” Applied Economics 38:  2179-89.

Claar, Victor V. and John N. Oswalt. 2006. “Can Neoclassical Economics Handle a Scriptural View of Forgiveness?” Journal of Markets & Morality 9:  71-89.

Claar, Victor V. 2005. “A Kalman-Filter Approach to Estimating the Natural Rate of Unemployment.” Proceedings of Rijeka School of Economics: Journal of Economics and Business 23: 1-24.

Claar, Victor V. 1998. “An Incentive-Compatibility Approach to the Problem of Monitoring a Bureau.” Public Finance Review 26: 599-610.
 

Selected Reviews

Claar, Victor V. 2006. Rev. of Economy of Grace, by Kathryn Tanner. Christian Scholar’s Review 35: 416-23.  (posted with publisher's permission)

Claar, Victor. 2005. Rev. of Economic Theory and Christian Belief, by Andrew Britton and Peter Sedgwick.Faith & Economics 45: 76-8.

Claar, Victor. 2002. Rev. of Bulls, Bears & Golden Calves: Applying Christian Ethics in Economics, by John E. Stapleford. Journal of the Association of Christian Economists 31: 41-3.
 

Recent Talks

While most talks by economists are extemporaneous, I occassionally give a more scripted talk.  When I do, I will post the PowerPoint presentations and/or audio files here.

• "Why Keynesianism Failed."  Acton University, Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 11, 2008.  This year’s AU, which integrated course instruction in philosophy, Christian theology, and economics, drew nearly 400 attendees from 51 countries.
• You can also listen to the talk.  The mp3 file is here.
• And this page contains some supplementary readings and information.

• "Heeding the Call:  The Moral Imperative for Economic Growth."  Amnesty International FOCUS Week, Hope College, Fall 2007.