Longtime Wall Street trader makes a biblical case for capitalism: ‘The best is yet to come’
As polling data shows that a large number of young Americans are embracing socialism, a former top Wall Street trader is making the biblical case for capitalism.
Charles Mizrahi, who was once crowned the No. 1 trader in the nation by Barron’s, explained his perspective on capitalism during an interview with The Christian Post.
As a speaker at the Democrat National Convention this month called for the destruction of capitalism, Mizrahi argues that the pretense that “capitalism is the cause of all of the problems that we’re having in the United States” is misguided.
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“I couldn’t disagree with that stronger,” said the Orthodox Jew, who left his career on Wall Street behind. “Capitalism has put the United States as the envy of nations throughout the world … and the greatest nation that ever existed on this planet.”
Mizrahi, who now produces the newsletter Alpha Investor to show average Americans “how to invest” and has authored investing books, noted that capitalism can trace its roots back to the Old Testament.
For example, in Deuteronomy 15:11, God told the Israelites: “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded towards your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.”
Mizrahi contends that Deuteronomy 15 highlights how “the Bible … was very practical and understood the nature of people: that there will always be economic inequality.“
“There was never going to be a period of time where everyone was going to be equal,” he asserted.
The Bible also advises “a person who was blessed with wealth” to “provide for others and act as a social safety net,” he stressed.
Multiple polls have demonstrated that many Americans, especially young Americans, do not share Mizrahi’s enthusiasm for capitalism.
In 2018, a poll conducted by YouGov and the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation found that 50% of millennials and 51% of Generation Z Americans have an unfavorable view of capitalism.
A 2019 poll from Harris Insights & Analytics found that 49.6% of millennials and members of Generation Z would prefer to live in a socialist country.
Mizrahi asked the critics of capitalism: “Why is it that people are getting on ramps and rowboats and standing in line and trying to cross walls in order to come into this country? Why aren’t they doing that to North Korea or China or Russia?”
He said that the U.S. will “continue to be a great country, because of our system of government, because of our capitalist system, and because the American people are the most generous, giving people on the face of the Earth.”
Mizrahi expressed disappointment that many Americans do not appreciate “what an amazing country we have with the opportunity that we have.”
Mizrahi predicted that the U.S. will bounce back from the difficult economic situation it finds itself in as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The best is yet to come,” he asserted.
The Wall Street veteran made similar arguments in a recent Real Clear Religion op-ed titled “Prosperity and Generosity: The Biblical Roots of Capitalism.”
“They have failed to understand that capitalism, as practiced in America, is based on Judeo-Christian values,” Mizrahi argued.
In the op-ed, Mizrahi pointed to Deuteronomy 8:18, which states: “Remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to get wealth, in fulfillment of the covenant that He made on oath with your fathers, as is still the case.”
“But that wealth was not meant to be hoarded or to be used only for self-gratification and advancement,” Mizrahi explained. “There was an expectation from God concerning wealth and divinely ordained responsibility to be generous.”
“Government welfare interferes with man’s responsibility to his God and his direct interaction with his community,” Mizrahi continued. “Is it any wonder that the atheistic leaders that dominated the communist and socialist worldviews were always quick to establish government as the source of benevolence and charity?”
Mizrahi’s op-ed offers some advice on how to respond to the coronavirus.
“We should not look for a global reset, attempt to undo the tenets of capitalism, or wait to see what the next round of government bailouts gives us,” he proclaimed.
“We should instead be taking hold of the opportunities that American capitalism, based on thousands of years of Judeo-Christian principles, provides to each and every one of us: to work hard, invest, thrive — and follow God’s commands to help our neighbors prosper.”
Recent survey data from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University found that 98% of American respondents who said they “prefer socialism over capitalism” reject the biblical worldview.
