The 'K' Shaped Economy and Prince Philip
Good Morning and Welcome to this week’s Gospel and Culture update, by Alan Vink
The ‘K’ Shaped Economy and Prince Philip
Monday 12th April 2021
The ‘K’ Shaped Economy
Economists sometimes use an alphabet system to describe recessions and recoveries. For example there’s the V-shape, in which the economy tanks but recovers quickly or the U-shape in which the recovery is longer and the bottom is a bit fuzzier. Then there are Ws and Ls. Many Economists are talking about NZ being like a K shape. With a K one arm goes up and one goes down. Another way of saying it is that “the rich are getting richer and the poor getting poorer”. Here is a helpful article for non-economists (7 mins) very creatively presented by Toby Morris from The Spinoff.
POV. Here is our question today, are we OK with K? From both an economists POV and from a Christian POV, I don’t think we are. History teaches us that when you hollow out the middle class, its only a matter of time and you head into some very ugly head winds. When large groups of people feel left behind and are disadvantaged it isn’t long before you have to erect electric fences and guard towers around your property. People will take out there unhappiness and frustration in very anti-social ways……..anger, protests and violence are distinct possibilities. We are already seeing this in a small measure in NZ not to say anything about the USA.
So what can we do? Here are a few suggestions:-
1. Speak up and speak out about this issue whenever we can. Advocate for the poor, the marginalised and the disenfranchised.
2. Mentor young hard working families who are struggling to get on the property ladder into their first home.
3. Support organisations that are working in the social and affordable housing space.
4. Provide scholarships for some deserving young people who need a ‘boost’ to pursue their educational dreams.
5. Adopt-a-family scheme within in your church where a well resourced family adopts an under resourced family and mentors them.
6. Maybe we as Christians should revisit a more fundamental question, namely, how should we live? Are there better and more affordable housing concepts that we should explore? How cool it would be if Christians were at the fore-front of re-imagining a new and more affordable housing concept(s).
Prince Philip – Rest in Peace
In 1946, Philip asked for Elizabeth’s hand in marriage, and they married the following year. She was 21, he was 26.
Philip abandoned his Greek and Danish royal titles and adopted his grandmother’s surname, Mountbatten. Before the wedding, he was given the title Duke of Edinburgh.
When Elizabeth took the throne in 1952, Philip gave up his naval career to accompany her on royal duties and look after their growing family.
Philip visited New Zealand 11 times between 1953 and 2002.
He once described himself as “the world’s most experienced plaque-unveiler” – and he’s not wrong. Since Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne, he made over 22,000 solo public engagements and delivered over 5000 speeches. He was Patron to over 800 Charitable Organisations and is perhaps best known as the Founder of the ‘Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme’.
Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.
