Stem Cell Research

Larry Kudlow continues to serve as his role as mouthpiece of the Republican party on “The Call”. In the closing comments, he complained that embryonic stem cell research is so controversial, only the private market should fund it. This is essentially the GOP party line for conservative wing-nuts. It would be ok if he was presenting this (wrong-headed) viewpoint as the representative of the GOP and this were his role, but he is an anchor on a (supposedly) news channel and political talking points from an anchor are inexcusable.

Going to church the solution for the economy?

I don’t have an exact quote from Larry Kudlow on Friday, but the general sentiment was that if more people attended church, temple or whatever, we would see a resolution of the current economic difficulties. This is an incredible reach from someone who lies on a daily basis about the causes of the crisis and grasps for “mustard seeds” of good news.

First, to start with the idea that going to church weekly will solve economic crises, it is a ridiculous presumption that church attendance leads to greater confidence which will cause economic recovery. Religious participation may provide some solace and there are probably some economists looking to see whether church attendance increases in times of economic strain (there are many papers relating to the economics of religion). However, the idea that going to church will fuel economic growth forces you to find evidence that attendance increases consumption (based on the GDP=C+I+G+N equation and the huge proportion of our economy which is driven by consumption). I don’t want to even wade in too deep to this relationship, but the idea that church attendance will lead to increased consumption in a country where the predominant religious tradition is (ascetic) Christianity.

Maybe I’m missing something or overanalyzing, but I think it is more likely that Kudlow was projecting religious chauvinism based on his need for it to remain sober and his right-wing ideology which almost without exception says that morality is based on religion and church attendance. By his bizzare arguemnt, the loss of confidence in the economy is driven by people without religion or those who do not attend church and therefore the solution is for more people to go to church regularly.