As international economic change accelerates and globalization becomes inevitable, Christians and others have questioned the equity and justice of the emerging global economy. Are there any fair and viable alternatives to global capitalism? University of Chicago theologian Kathryn Tanner offers here a serious and creative proposal for evaluating economic theory and behavior. She finds in the Christian story a strong and unyielding concern with economic matters and specific principles of economics and economic justice that can be brought into conversation with global capitalism today. At the heart of that story is the reality of God's gift of grace, a noncompetitive relationship that models a very different type of economy. Further, Tanner discusses specific alternatives to the present economic system and principles that can apply across comparative economies. Finally, she offers concrete proposals for a theological economy and ways to make it work to modify and perhaps replace the present global capitalist configuration. Few matters today are as pressing and consequential as the global economic direction, and Tanner's proposal offers a way for Christians to consider their role in crafting or reworking the myriad economic ways in which we all relate to each other.
