Joseph Sunde

Joseph Sunde's work has appeared in venues such as the Foundation for Economic Education, First Things, The Christian Post, The Stream, Intellectual Takeout, Patheos, LifeSiteNews, The City, Charisma News, The Green Room, Juicy Ecumenism, Ethika Politika, Made to Flourish, and the Center for Faith and Work, as well as on PowerBlog. He resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with his wife and four children.

Posts by Joseph Sunde

October 27, 2017

Haiti’s solar entrepreneurs

Jean-Ronel Noel and Alex Georges began their company in a garage in Haiti, tinkering with solar panels and light bulbs, wondering how their experiments might translate into an actual product. “We have plenty of sunshine, so is there a way that we can harvest energy from the sun to resolve the energy problem?” Continue Reading...
October 13, 2017

Economic man is a myth, but ‘nudging’ is a distraction

The University of Chicago’s Richard Thaler recently won the Nobel Prize for his contributions in behavioral economics, much of which centers on challenging rational choice theory. “Renowned for his use of data to observe and predict how people behave in the real world,” writes Derek Thompson, “Thaler’s career has been a lifelong war on Homo economicus, that mythical species of purely rational hominids who dwell exclusively in the models of classical economic theory.” Continue Reading...
October 11, 2017

More victims of the $15 minimum wage

The deleterious side effects of the $15-per-hour minimum wage have continued to manifest across the country, affecting cities from Seattle to Minneapolis and states from California to New York. To illustrate the damage, the Employment Policies Institute is maintaining a catalog of suffering businesses across the country, highlighting stories of raised consumer prices, increased unemployment, reduced working hours, and outright business closures. Continue Reading...
October 06, 2017

‘Work Songs’: A new collection of hymns on work and vocation

In June of 2017, a group of 60 Christian creatives gathered in New York City to discuss and reflect on the intersection of worship and vocation. Known as the The Porter’s Gate Worship Project, the group is comprised of musicians, pastors, writers, and scholars, aiming to “reimagine and recreate worship that welcomes, reflects and impacts both community and the Church.” Continue Reading...
October 05, 2017

What a Chinese economist learned from American churches

“Only through awe can we be saved. Only through faith can the market economy have a soul.” -Zhao Xiao When French diplomat and historian Alexis de Tocqueville visited America in the 1830s, he marveled at the “associational life” of American communities, noting the particular influence of religion and local churches. Continue Reading...
September 29, 2017

The cultural connection between economics and belief

Is there a connection between economics and belief? In a recent Karam Forum lecture for the Oikonomia Network, theologian Jay Moon uses a Perplexus ball to explain the overlapping influence and impact of distinct cultural spheres — what anthropologists call the “functional integration of culture.” Continue Reading...