Annabelle Crawford Dr. Choi ECON 320 8 October 2022 Blog Post 2: Stewardship, Private Property, and Pollution Stewardship should be second nature as Christians. God commands us to be good stewards in everything from our finances to our personal belongings. As stewards, we are open to giving what we receive and giving cheerfully, without greed. Learning to be “content with what you have,” as Hebrews 13:5 says. Being content with what we have means we should also make it a priority to take care of what we have and to have an appreciation for our belongings. At some point in life, we will all have personal property, whether owning a house, a car, or a phone. Personal property can influence pollution in several ways, from the factories that produce material items to car emissions. Pollution is a negative externality affecting society (khan academy). Starting with companies that only consider private costs and don’t consider the social costs society must deal with. As Christians, we can consider what brands we use; many brands today are working to create positive effects on the environment. Another common and easy way to be a good steward is to own plants indoors or outdoors. Plants can play a significant role in purifying the air. Indoors alone, many pollutants exist, such as formaldehyde, ammonia, or nitrogen dioxide. These pollutants can be found in facial tissues, window cleaners, or vehicle emissions (mashrita.com). Plants like snake plants and aloe vera play a significant role in purifying the air. To connect this all together, as stewards of Christ, we can take the first step in taking care of our private property, such as our houses, to demonstrate the importance of breathing in clean air, which in return can be healthier for our bodies which are the temples of Christ. References: Mashrita, (Reviewer), (2019, November 16). 29 best air purifying plants from NASA clean air study. Landscaping Garden Indoor Office Plants Online India. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://www.mashrita.com/29-best-air-purifying-plants-nasa-clean-air-study/ 11 eco-friendly brands that put the planet first - 99designs. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2022, from https://99designs.com/blog/business/eco-friendly-brands/ Khan Academy. (n.d.). The Economics of Pollution (article). Khan Academy. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/microeconomics/market-failure-and-the-role-of-government/environmental-regulation/a/the-economics-of-pollution-cnx

Annabelle Crawford Dr. Choi ECON 320 11 September 2022 Week 3 Blog Post 1 While Adam Smith’s argument would sound appealing, I must propose how it may not be. The first response to Smith’s argument would be to agree. I agreed as well, but upon further thought that “diversity of churches is a good thing,” I concluded that too much diversity of churches could negatively influence our society. I pass at least five churches on my commutes between school and work (which are not long). All that are of different denominations. It can be overwhelming, especially for someone new in the faith or who may not know Christ. How do we justify which church is the better church? Well, we will probably be biased and say that the church we attend is the best. Each church markets itself with events or appearances or guest pastors to bring people into their church. They are competing. Except what are they competing for? Perhaps to have the most people in attendance or to gain the most profit. Research conducted by Kirk Hadaway and Penny Marler showed that only 20.4 percent of people in the US attend church weekly. With 350,000 congregations in our nation, they said that it is about 180 people per congregation (Hartford Institute for Religion Research, 2006). In the U.S., we have religious pluralism; anyone can enter and exit any religion or church denomination as they please, and there is no state control over what religion is practiced (Chiswick, 2013, p.7). I suppose that the church and religion generally can be considered a perfectly competitive firm. As the textbook defines it as any quantity it wants to sell; we can see quantity as what the church has to offer, i.e., the message, worship, community, etc. Any church can offer these things, but how well they do will make a difference in member count. More precisely, the church is a competitive industry. Diversity and competition in the church could have more negative than positive effects because there are too many options. How can we choose the right church and know we will get the most for our time spent there? I find that the church is efficient in a competitive market to gain members. Though this following statement is purely based on experience than research, I don’t believe every church is efficient in conveying the message of Christ as Christ called us to deliver it. Sources: Chiswick, C. U. (2013). Competition vs. monopoly in the religious marketplace: Judaism in the United States and Israel. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2210848 Hartford Institute for Religion Research. (2006). Fast Facts about American Religion. Fast facts about American religion. Retrieved September 11, 2022, from http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/fastfacts/fast_facts.html#attend Landsburg, S. E. (2014). Chapter 7: Competition. In Price theory and applications (pp. 167–218). essay, Cengage Learning. Zaleski, P. A., & Zech, C. E. (1995). The effect of religious market competition on Church giving. Review of Social Economy, 53(3), 350–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/00346769500000028