False Doctrine, False God, False Economy: Scarcity and Abundance in the Song of Solomon

Abstract

Mainstream economics is predicated on the notion that scarcity is intrinsic to the world. Heterodox approaches, however, treat abundance as the proper starting point of analysis. I argue that this is an essentially theological disagreement which is central to the discourse of the Bible. The paper begins by tracing the history of each side of the disagreement, which I respectively designate the scarcity doctrine and the abundance perspective. With reference to the history of money, the paper upholds the abundance perspective, arguing that the scarcity doctrine tends to create the very ‘economic problem’ which it purports to solve. The Biblical expression of the disagreement is then examined through a case study from the Song of Solomon. Viewing this passage from the abundance perspective implies a subversive reading of the text, in which the exploitative economy of Solomon is personified as a false god of scarcity. The female Lover’s alternative economy is motivated by Love, which the paper suggests should also motivate an alternative economics.