"Cash, Rules, Everything, Around, Me
C.R.E.A.M.
Get the money
Dollar, dollar bill y'all"

-Wu-Tang Clan

Economics.

Recently, in his book The Age of Turbulence, Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, informs his reader that a study and analysis in economics can not be surmised in a study of markets, supply and demand, inflation, or any other monetary term. Instead, Greenspan notes that to truly understand economics, to get to the heart of why prices fluxuate, or credit and loans become stable or not, one must study people, must understand how they work as governments, cultures, and even individuals.

I had a very narrow view of Micronesia when I boarded a plane nearly 20 months ago. I figured the simple lifestyle of the Pacific was integral to life here. That a coconut and a sandy beach would be an ever present part of the day, and that the last thing on my mind would be economics. Yet, despite my uninformed views (mangrove forests prevent beaches, and no one I know swims in the trash and sewage infested water close to our house and jobs) the study of people that Greenspan describes has become a real description of my time here.

The truth is, language has come slow, I am not the most linguistic of peoples, and my skills in Pohnpian remain limited. Despite that fall back, however, I spend my time and energy in attempting to get an understanding of how Micronesians live their lives. An economist I am not, yet this study has letely melded into my approach.

I teach Science and Literature at the newly formed Catholic high school in Pohnpei. As such, I teach the skills necessary to achieve at the highest necessary level. The reality of this meant and means (at least in the back of my head) that I was training kids to go off the island and attend schools in Guam or Hawaii, or even possiblly the United States. Going to college in Spokane, Washington at a Jesuit college in which very few of the students stayed "home," when home was applied to Spokane, this trend had a name: brain drain. Throughout my year, these sentiments crept into my thoughts and refelctions. Was it not counterproductive to the mission of JVI and essentially the Catholic School I worked at to be training students to simply leave the place I was trying to help? Where was the justice in that?

It was this question that lead me to Alan Greenspan and economics, via Fran Hezel (SJ). Fr. Fran, the origin of my basketball career in Pohnpei, and further the head of Micronesian Seminar (micsem.org) , and the pre-eminent expert on Microneisa. Father had written an article on Micronesia and the future of "self sustainability,"titled "Is that the Best you can Do? A Tale of Two Micronesian Economies," found here: http://www.micsem.org/pubs/articles/economic/frames/taleoftwofr.htm.

In the article the idea of emigration by Micronesians abroad is adressed, not as a hinderence, but instead as a viable and real option. Further, cultural norms, such as the history of outer atoll dwellers sending the young off to other islands when food suplies began to dwindle, always yielded desirable results; meaning they returned, with the necessary goods. Further, that today, those Micronesians who left for college education, or jobs abroad, sent remitance home and would continue to, creating an economy of sustainability in itself.

Sidebar: As a Jesuit Volunteer, I ascribe to systematically examining all aspects of my host country. Jesuit Volunteers as an orginization takes very seriously the "preferential option for the poor," outlined by Catholic Social Teaching made so prevelant in the post-Vatican II Church. Personally, I came to Micronesia to see the way a foriegn people live each day and do my little part to teach at a school, given all that I could learn in the mean time. Poor or not made little difference in a country where subsistance living is still a reality. However, as these ideas of economic development invaded my everyday life, I struggled (and struggle) to equate where as a Jesuit Volunteer I stand on development on markets economies.

I had read, The End of Poverty by Jeffery Sachs and examined the idea of capitalism and free-market economies bringing a new quality of life to the poor, yet had not truely seen the reality of it. I continually asked myself when diserning JVI (a program that focuses itself on living life in a simple lifestyle, working with the poor, and continually examining the influences of American and therefore capitalistic culture and upbrining), would Jesus have been a capitalist? He had a job as a carpenter, did he charge a fair price? Did he strive or a profit? Of course, these questions bared little important to his ministry or message, yet on such questions I reflected (and reflect). Further, what about St. Ignatius? Surely an orginization such as the Society of Jesus would need a net profit to continue, and certainly the markets of 16th and 17th century Europe helped spread and fund the work of Jesuit saints in Latin America and Asia. As a JV, what should my stance on econimic development? Who were my models? As Catholics, we proclaim to embark on a life dedicated to Jesus message. Undoubtedly this message tells us to be with the poor, the sick, the meek, the lame. Yet, can this work be done on Wall Street, through capital investment, by createing sustainable econimies, in which statistics prove life rates are higher, infant mortality rates are markedly lower, and the poor are given the option to pursue those material niceties previously un-prescribed (in meer months Pohnpei will be recieving a fiber optic cable allowing for high speed information processing).

So I was led to a few memorable names from my college Political Science classes for insight. I glanced a few times at Adam Smith, re-read a few lines of John Locke, and amidst teaching a Confirmation class for english speaking Micronesian's, kept an eye to the Gospel. Thus, I landed on Alan Greenspan's memoir. Upon reading it, one thing is clear, the former Chairman of the Fed. Reserve is an undying believer in the power and un-wielding strength of market economies. As I read his reflections, I was amazed on his un-changing favor of "market" forces." The extent to which Greenspan believes that markets can save peoples and the world can be called nothing but faith.

Sidebar 2: On an island, and with a dedication to living a simple lifestyle and less than normal information feeds, I was less than in touch to the extreme recession taking place in the States. As I received emails and talked to friends and family, one thing became incredibly obvious; the greed of a few had influenced the trends of certain profit wielding enterprises, henceforth, the fall-out and repercussion of that greed had led to the slippery slope recession now going on at home and casually around the globe.

Greed. Certainly this did not play into Greenspan's formulas for thriving economies. Further, little was said by Mr. Smith as well. Jesus states time and time again about needles eye's and camels, in summation, that the wealthy do not have much of a place in the Kingdom of Heaven. Greed, however, is not a cause of market economies. Cain killed Able before Adam Smith wrote anything, Pharos of Egypt led slaves to build monuments to their greed before Moses saw any burning bushes. Greed is as old as human beings, and further, was as present to communist countries political structures as capitalist's.

So, I offer one glimmer of hope. Capitalism, as a philosophy, not a science, offers the same thing that most other philosophies do: a glimmer of hope in an idea on humanity. Winston Churchill tells us that democracy is "The worst form of government besides all others we know." Certainly the same can be said of capitalism. As a follower of Ignatius Loyola and his systematic approach to "find God in all things," I then look for God in the ways in which men and women (whether in the States, in Micronesia, or anywhere else) trade goods and services and why. Whether it be for money (dollar bills, euros, francs) or for slabs of fish, breadfruit, or other, the fact remains that we all live in societies in which one thing is necessary to continue in the face of development, sustainability, or recession; a hope and a faith in our fellow man. As a foreigner, whether they are going abroad or staying for good, I can answer honestly that I have found that hope in the people of Micronesia, whether they say the same for me is a goal, and the only target market, I hope to acquire.