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Wise Words for an Economic Crisis
By Rachel Wegner 07
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"I'm not here to talk about a 'micro' view of the economy and what direction I think the stock market is going and where you should be investing your money," Marshal Wright said. "One of my passions is looking at worldview and how that applies in business settings and economic environments."
Drawing from his findings for a two-part research paper he crafted with economist and fellow business professor Dr. Jim Russell, Wright shared about the importance of Judeo-Christian values in an economy. In their research, they discovered that 100 percent of the countries whose predominant religion is Protestant, Catholic or Jewish had greater economic freedom, higher per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP), higher life expectancy and lower mortality rates. On the other hand, 100 percent of the countries whose predominant religions are Islam, Hindu or "non-religious" had less economic freedom, lower per capita GDP, shorter life expectancy and higher mortality rates.
"When you come up with that level of confidence, something's going on," Wright said, noting that selfishness and greed lead to destruction of both individuals and society. "Restraint is a very important thing in our political, legal, social and cultural perspective, based upon Judeo-Christian models."
Wright and Russell continued their research by doing a second paper that examined the correlation between a country's Judeo-Christian influences and the health of its economy and quality of life. Wright related it back to the current economic crisis spreading across the world.
"I believe that the fundamental problem, from a macro perspective, is that our society is losing touch with our Judeo-Christian foundations that cause us to think of our responsibilities to each other and causes us then to have appropriate restraint in our economic activities," Wright said.
Noting the presence of recently elected Oklahoma State Senator Gary Stanislawski 96, Wright emphasized the importance of strong Christian leaders in modern society.
"We've got graduates of ORU that are going out and trying to be that influence in the political, legal and socioeconomic structures," Wright said. "I'm thankful we have people like that."
Wright said that he realizes many of the problems in the current economic crisis are too big for just one man to solve. However, he encouraged those in attendance to do their part to make an impact in the world.
"I don't believe that I can reach the world, but I believe I can change my world," Wright said. "God has put me into a sphere of influence. It is my job to influence and change my world, those people I've interacted with, and to challenge them to think about how the Lord would ask us to approach decisions. That is something I can get my arms around, and that's why I'm passionate about teaching at ORU. It gives me an opportunity every day in the classroom to interact with students and to equip them with these types of concepts and get them to start applying Judeo-Christian principles in their decision-making."
Dr. Marshal Wright currently serves as the interim dean of the ORU School of Business, chair of the Graduate Business Department and as a tenured professor of Graduate Business. His degrees include a B.S. in management from ORU (1983), a J.D. from Regent University School of Law (1987), an MBA from ORU (1989), and a Ph.D. in organizational leadership from Regent (2004).
