Economics is so strongly associated with thrift if not austerity and authoritatively enforced self denial  that a concept like grace which is associated with amongst many other things abundance, freedom, free flowingness gifting, giving and joy is an absurdity to those whose thinking is ingrained with the former. Such cannot countenance the latter even if the empirical data and the calculus of their relationships shows that a gift of individual income is the only way to validly address the macro economy’s deepest problem. I have tried to get such people to actually look at the data for years and they simply will not/ do not do it. Their previously held orthodoxies and mindsets are incredible self imposed and self reinforced mental barriers. A linguistic analysis of the three major aspects and meanings of the word and concept of grace and the classical (and correct) goals of economic theory and policy are balance equilibrium and flow. Such perfect alignment and reflectivity cannot be dismissed by orthodoxies from any quarter. Grace is the “non-economic” absurdity of shallow economic common sense and economic orthodoxy, and apparently just as much the Rubicon which the vast majority of modern heterodox economic thinkers cannot muster sufficient courage or contemplative wisdom to cross. Nevertheless it is a valid economic concept as per above and a linguistic and philosophical analysis of it reveals it to be the only idea up to the task of becoming the new paradigm for economic theory and policy.

Steve Hummel 08/13/2015