Genesis 41, our theme verse for week 9 but something of an overriding passage for this whole section, tells of a severe business cycle, although maybe not as severe as we may think; not to equate anything since we do not have enough details to do and obviously the 7 leans years in Egypt were extremely hard but the 1920’s and 1930’s could be described as roughly 10 fat years and 10 lean years for many nations including the United States. and 2002 – 2007 could be described as 6 fat years and 2007-2014 as 7 lean years as well. True the entire nation was not starving as in Egypt but the 1930s saw unemployment at 25% and many did face hunger issues. All that said, are there any lessons in Genesis 41 that can apply to modern economies in how to prepare for or respond to lean times? Is there a hint Keynesian economics in Joseph’s approach to increase taxes during the good years and run a deficit during the lean ones? Or did he? How is Joseph’s plan significantly different from Keynes? How were God/Joseph’s goals and results different from the Keynesian approach or is this result inevitable outcome of government planning and economic management?