A Surprising Headline and a Warning from History
(This post is a Christian Reflection on Economics, Power, and Faith. Now more than ever please, please, please consider making sus Christ Your Lord and Savior)
When I first read the headline — “Trump administration will set price floors across a range of industries to combat China,” according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — I thought, there’s no way this could be true. Yet, it appears that it is.
Before examining the broader implications, consider this parallel: Venezuela’s stock market recently hit record highs this October. For those unfamiliar, Venezuela is notorious for its long history of price controls—a cautionary tale of what happens when a nation builds its economy on stock market speculation rather than genuine productivity.
Rising markets don’t always signal prosperity. More often than not, they indicate a weakening currency and the illusion of growth created by inflation. Time and again, history has shown that soaring market indices can disguise deep structural decay beneath the surface.
Today, the Trump administration appears to be walking a similar path—believing that price controls and industrial intervention will somehow restore America’s manufacturing dominance and subdue China. Sadly, that assumption misunderstands both economic reality and human nature.
Price Controls: Playing God with the Market
If President Trump believes that setting price floors will bring back jobs or discipline China, he’s approaching the issue entirely backwards.
The true cost of productivity begins with the federal minimum wage, which acts as a floor—a legal barrier that prevents the market from finding its natural equilibrium. If the goal is to make America competitive again, that floor must be reconsidered.
Christians understand what happens when men start to believe they can act as gods—when they attempt to control outcomes through force rather than faith. Economics obeys laws that no government can rewrite. God designed those laws through incentives, free will, and consequence.
Faith, Israel, and Misplaced Peace
As a Christian, I must also address something spiritual. Christians need to stop bullying Israel into peace agreements that complicate the lives of Jewish people.
President Trump, to his credit, is an exceptional communicator and negotiator. But when he declared that “the fighting ends now” in the Middle East, he stepped into territory that belongs only to God.
The truth is, fighting ends only when God says so. Many in the region—Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike—still do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Without that faith, attempts to “manufacture peace” through censorship or political deals are destined to fail.
Our mission as Christians is not to control nations but to build the Kingdom of God on Earth—to bring civility, love, and truth through the Word of Christ. We are called to set an example, not to impose divine authority through worldly power.
Wars Never End—But Christians Can Choose Not to Fuel Them
If you’re asking, “What about world wars?”—remember this: when has the world ever stopped being at war?
The problem isn’t conflict itself; it’s how we respond to it. Christians should stop contributing to global unrest through arrogance and fear. If Israel decides to annex Gaza or the West Bank, that is between them and God. It is not for America—or any other nation—to dictate divine timing.
When governments play God, chaos follows. The same is true in economics. The Trump administration’s attempt to impose price controls on China is no different from the moral mistake of believing we can control peace through force.
The Economic Theology of Control
Price controls—whether ceilings or floors—always produce shortages or surpluses. Minimum wage laws create shortages of jobs. Similarly, trade floors will create shortages of goods.
Left-wing economists often say, “If you can’t pay a living wage, you don’t deserve to be in business.” Ironically, this same logic now drives Trump’s tariff and price-floor policies toward China.
He’s saying, in essence, “If you can’t meet American wage levels, your business isn’t welcome here.” But that ignores an obvious truth—many Americans no longer want these jobs because of the cradle-to-grave entitlement systems that discourage labor and reward dependency.
The Regulatory Burden and China’s Advantage
Even if Chinese manufacturers were allowed to relocate their operations to America, they would still face the mountain of regulations that burden U.S. businesses—rules that the Chinese Communist Party never imposes on its own industries.
As strange as it sounds, China is often more market-friendly than America when it comes to business freedom. This means that at best, Trump might achieve a temporary victory, but not a lasting one.
Lessons from Scripture and History
This all circles back to a spiritual truth: Truth and God are inseparable.
When leaders censor truth or idolize their own success, they invite judgment. My God is a jealous God. He demands all the glory, not part of it. Every prophet in the Bible gave their life, their wealth, and their will to the Most High.
President Trump—like Esau and King Solomon before him—possesses admirable qualities: work ethic, focus, and strength. Yet, those same strengths can lead to pride, and pride leads to humbling. Solomon learned that even wisdom cannot save a man who tries to control what belongs to God.
The Gold Standard of Truth
If I were you, I’d seriously consider purchasing gold. The parallels between Trump’s proposed policies and Richard Nixon’s 1971 “Gold Shock” are impossible to ignore.
Many focus on Nixon’s removal of the gold standard from the U.S. dollar—but the truly critical part of that speech was his announcement of price controls. That was the beginning of the end of America’s financial integrity.
We are now repeating history. The more the government tries to “fix” the market, the more it breaks what God intended to function freely.
Modern Echoes: Trump’s Economic Announcement
In an interview this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that the Trump administration will set price floors across multiple industries to prevent Chinese market manipulation—particularly in rare earth minerals essential to both defense and technology.
“When you are facing a nonmarket economy like China, you have to exercise industrial policy,” Bessent said.
“We’re going to set price floors and forward buying to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
He also revealed that the U.S. will explore creating a strategic mineral reserve with JPMorgan Chase potentially involved in the effort.
Rare earth elements power everything from F-35 warplanes and Tomahawk missiles to electric vehicles. China’s dominance in these materials gives it leverage, and America’s response, once again, is control—not competition.
The Christian Perspective: Control vs. Faith
America’s government, like every government, must remember that control without faith leads to decay.
When leaders replace prayer with policy and trust in God with technocratic manipulation, they repeat the sin of Babel—building towers that reach for heaven but collapse under their own pride.
Final Reflection
Price controls won’t save America. They never have. They only delay the inevitable reckoning of poor stewardship and moral decay.
History proves that nations rise and fall not because of their economic systems, but because of their spiritual ones. When a people forget God, they lose wisdom. And when they lose wisdom, they turn to control.
Consider making Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior today.
He alone provides the stability and freedom that no government policy ever can.