Is All Economic Progress Good?

The following quotes are from the book "Bible and Mission" by Richard Bauckham.

"Christians must not be seduced by the enticing notion that economic growth as such is self-evidently a prim good for humanity. We must probe the facts behind this glib assumption and ask questions about who and what is benefit or damaged by the actual economic growth that we are considering. About economic growth we should be asking at least three very testing questions (a) Does it benefit the poorest people? (b) Does it destroy the environment? (c) Does it destroy other (traditional) values which are at least as important as economic prosperity?......... Economic globalization as it has recently occurred and is currently occurring is surely blatently guilty of impovershing and vandalizing God's world." - P. 96

I look forward to hearing your comments on this quote. It is unfortunate how economic growth has recently missed the target. The poor keep getting poorer, the environment is being damaged and value systems are going by the wayside. Somehow, we need to focus on economic growth that avoids these "spillover" effects.