A study by the Harvard Business School has concluded that government spending does not stimulate an economy.  It stifles.  You can read the study here:

 

This was not the conclusion the study was expected to produce.  It is not a welcomed study during a time when the whole commitment of the federal policy is predicated upon the opposite conclusion.  Simply put, we’re pursuing a course that won’t/can’t work.

 

It shows again, how foolish it is to trust in the opinions of men.  I’m utterly convinced that opinions are misleading.  I believe the scriptures counsel against using opinions as a basis for determining truth.

 

The Great Whore, which deceives the world, sits upon “many waters.”  (Rev. 17: 1.)  The definition of “waters” is given in verse 15.  (Rev. 17: 15.)  These unstable waters are the “peoples, and multitudes, and nations.”  It is again a reminder of the original blessing given to Reuben, in which instability is compared to “water.”  (Gen. 49: 4.)  Great wars, overflowing armies and unstable political movements have all been compared to a flood of water.  (See, e.g., Isa. 28: 2; Jer. 46: 8.)

 

Opinions of peoples, multitudes and nations are as “unstable as water.”  They flow, and ebb and move about in dangerous currents.  Finding an opinion and adopting it as the basis for a church decision or policy is a study in learning which cannot bring you to the truth.  (2 Tim. 3: 7.)

 

Before this latest study, it was common wisdom that government spending was NEEDED in order to combat the recession.  Now, it appears the solution will only mire the country in a more prolonged downward economic cycle.  Opinions were gathered carefully before the commitment was made.  Now, we have accepted only foolishness as our wisdom.

I have always thought the tools of industry have no place in a church which claims to be guided by inspiration.  To the extent the church elects to employ opinion polling and focus group gathering to inform its decision, it will reach the wrong conclusions, make the wrong decisions, and go backward.

Inspiration does not lie within the opinions of the great and unstable waters.  Indeed, the Destroyer rides upon the waters.  (D&C 61: 19.)