Currency Crisis

A Christian response to wealth fixation.

Harvard Business School has a money problem. Unlike the 99.99999% of humans throughout history, HBS grads will have far more money than they need for daily survival over the course of their careers. This change in circumstances, though far better in many respects, also means we are susceptible to an unhealthy fascination with riches. Before I lose any more readers, I want to assuage your fears: this is not an article critiquing wealth itself. The more economically left-wing of our classmates, who must face the daily, numerous comments defending maximization of shareholder value, will be saddened to hear that I find our markets, voluntary trade, and private property to be generally good. You are entitled to the sweat of your brow, and just as we must punish those who achieve wealth illegally and unethically, we ought to encourage and reward diligent, moral labor.

Yet, there is still the problem of money. Why does money hold such an important position in our lives, discussions, and interests? What motivates you to spend 80+ hours a week working? Why do you find it acceptable to fly thousands of miles a week to work for a company for which you don’t actually work, just to fly back on Friday and repeat the cycle again next week? With your tireless (or “lazy, but efficient” as former consultants recently explained to me) efforts over the next several decades, have we considered what money means to us and, more importantly, what it should mean to us? 

One of the unfortunate facts of being at HBS is that every graduating class will have a few individuals who go just a bit too far in their pursuit of riches, sacrificing their families, career, or felony-free record for the sake of earning more. If we do not find ourselves in this extreme situation, we may end up like many of the alumni who have written back to us decades after graduation. The common refrain is almost always, “I was spending too much time on my career and wish I was paying more attention to my relationships.” Whether from a desire for control and security or as a proxy to measure your status against peers, the focus on money can build to levels of unhealthy fixation, to the point that it controls you more than you control it. There is tremendous danger in this idolization: your personal worth being tied to your net worth leaves you vulnerable to economic downturns, bad investments, and career setbacks. When the good turns into the ultimate, we always end up searching for more to feed our cravings or, as was said thousands of years ago, “he who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income…”

Where can we go for insight in these troubling circumstances? Christianity offers tremendous wisdom in all areas of life, including wealth. As St. James puts it, “...the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” We are instructed that “you cannot serve God and money,” forcing us to choose for what we are truly living. The insights of divine wisdom, far more so than LCA frameworks, offer guidance for how to live virtuously and orderly, capable of joyful flourishing in the adventures and trials of life. Here are several practices to help prevent the pursuit of money from becoming all-encompassing and destructive. 

Gratitude

Though you have certainly worked hard in school and work, finding success through intellect and effort, think of what is required in the world to allow you to gain, use, and invest your income. You happened (though not by coincidence) to be born at a time of relative international stability, with globalization opening up trade across the world and with massive decreases in worldwide poverty. Think of all the buildings in which you have worked that were built by prior generations or the roads, planes, and infrastructure that enable you to conduct business with a staggering degree of rapidity. When more and more diseases are treatable, if not preventable; when fewer and fewer people die of natural disasters. Have you considered how nice it is that you don’t have to worry about the Mongols raiding and enslaving you while you work in the fields? Your efforts, combined with the present circumstances, have yielded returns far beyond what was possible for most of human history. 

In response to this, gratitude allows you to see a bigger picture beyond the pursuit of money. It encourages you to appreciate the sacrifices of our forebears, as well as instills a sense of responsibility to create and preserve for future generations. Your wealth is no longer simply your own, but you are encouraged to steward your finances and continue to build the world in an uplifting manner.  

Simplicity

I had never seen an Owala before the first day of RC year, but I quickly learned it was a mandatory part of the business school starter pack. I don’t know if this is a New York thing or if I missed one of the annual high end-water bottle giveaways from the school, but the Owala is emblematic of using goods to display our status and to what group we belong. Our perception of success often tracks with how we are doing compared to others: we dress, act, and talk like the successful people as whom we wish to be seen. This works well as long as you are doing better than your peers, but as you will find out in Negotiation, you will feel much less sanguine about the terms to which you agreed when you see the results of others. 

This constant desire to measure our success against others, ensuring we always stay one step ahead, drives us towards lifestyle creep. Despite our social instinct to “keep up with the Joneses,” the Bible contends that envy and jealousy ultimately yield a deep bitterness, sapping our lives of joy. Jesus told us to, “...be on guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist of abundance of his possessions.”

The panacea for this issue revolves around the principle of simplicity, which compels us to live below our potential lifestyle (meeting our needs but not all of our wants). Simplicity means choosing to live less comfortably, luxuriously, and securely than we may desire. By sacrificing excessive spending, you gain peace and contentment. After all, the secrets to life are not hidden behind the newest car or the next spending spree on Newbury Street or the fourth trek that you are trying to schedule over break. At a certain point, saying yes to everything will program you to be unable to say no to anything. Lifestyle-maxing becomes an itch you are addicted to scratching. Simplicity offers the cure. 

Generosity

People claim to love the feeling of generosity yet often struggle to bring themselves to actually do it. If we accept the dictum of “voting with our wallets,” then does our spending, saving, and giving not reveal our moral character? 

Often, the initial step to give is a leap of faith. We look ahead to lofty goals in life (owning a home, providing for our families, giving back to supportive parents), but all too often, we end up using these high-minded objectives as an excuse to save more than we need. 

Countering this trend requires generosity that often feels difficult and painful in the short term. Even during periods of thrift and difficulty, I would encourage you to practice generosity with your time, talents, and money. The apostle Paul tells the wealthy to “…do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” 

Many do not have the gifts we have developed across academia and our careers. Operational planning, financial stewardship, and other skills we learn here are invaluable to all manners of people and organizations. Do not be flippant with your money (blindly donating can often cause more harm than good), but find ways to invest yourself and your earnings well for the sake of others.

In closing, do not mistake this article as a critique of ambition: society needs able people shouldering as much burden of responsibility in their families, communities, governments, civic organizations, and businesses as possible, but we do not need more people corrupted by the unending pursuit of wealth. 

These solutions may initially strike you as foolish, but I want to remind you again of the consequences of the love of money for so many HBS alumni. Riches offer not only tremendous ability for good but also the potential for moral decay and destruction. Walking this difficult line is something we will all face in our future (or may even be struggling with now). More so than any other belief system, the Christian faith offers freedom and guidance amidst a perilous world, emboldening us towards productive work and defending us against abuse and evil.

Brian Rath (MBA ’26 ) is originally from Lafayette, California.  After graduating from University of California, Davis, with a degree in History in 2016, he was commissioned as an officer in the United States Army. He served as a Chinook helicopter pilot for seven years in Georgia, New York, and Afghanistan. Outside of class, he can be found reading, avoiding large crowds, and advocating for the nuclear energy renaissance.