While working on a recording together, Johnny Cash is reported to have asked Bob Dylan if he knew “Ring of Fire.” Dylan said he did and began to play it on the piano, croaking it out in typical Dylanesque fashion. When he was done he turned to his friend and said, “It goes something like that, right?” “No,” said Cash shaking his head. “It doesn’t go like that at all.” I can understand how Cash felt; I often get the...

Back in the 1990s, the debut of Magic: The Gathering marked a new form of gaming: collectible card games. While many may remember it similarly to Pogs, for example, Magic survived where Pogs did not. In fact, Magic is more popular now than ever. In 2018, I co-wrote and presented a paper on the topic for the Association of Private Enterprise Education that detailed its popularity: Magic: The Gathering … is played by millions of people around the world, with...

The Dutch theologian and statesman Abraham Kuyper is well-known for his articulation of sphere sovereignty, and the following passage from the third volume of his Common Grace trilogy is a clear and balanced summary of this doctrine, particularly as it relates to the limits of government action. In this chapter he is addressing the question of whether mon grace that impacts social life and society is exclusively mediated through government or not: There can therefore be no disputing the independent...

The Acton Institute reached an international audience of influencers this weekend with its mission of uniting markets with morality. The Wall Street Journalpublished a profile of Acton, and an extended look at the ministry of Acton co-founder Fr. Robert Sirico, in its “Weekend Interview” feature on Saturday, August 3. “When the Market Meets Morality” by William McGurn introduced a critical group of thought leaders to Acton’s work of promoting a free and virtuous society. McGurn writes that, like Lord Acton,...

There are several things, universally known, which one is never supposed to discuss over dinner: religion, politics, and money. I violate this generally well regarded rule on a regular basis while never impeding my digestion. My secret? I try, in the words of the prayer of St. Francis, not to seek so much to be understood as to understand. During the course of the discussion there es a time when my interest and inquiry is reciprocated. I try and focus...

Yesterday the Treasury Department took the unusual step of designating China a currency manipulator. Secretary Mnuchin, under the auspices of President Trump, made the change, saying, “In recent days, China has taken concrete steps to devalue its currency, while maintaining substantial foreign exchange reserves despite active use of such tools in the past.” In this video from 2017, CNBC explains what it means for a country to manipulate its currency. (For a more in-depth explanation, see this post.) ...

Milton Friedman is one half of the duo so often identified with “neoliberalism” (the other being Friedrich Hayek), the hegemonic power that is typically seen as constitutive of our contemporary age. Friedman was a brilliant thinker, and one whose ideas warrant attention, not least because of their association with today’s political and economic situation. Oftentimes neoliberalism is connected with an ideology of privatization, which is itself seen as policy intended to empower and prioritize the interests of business and industry....

I spent most of July traveling to various parts of the People’s Republic of China. Although I made brief trips to Hong Kong in 2000 and Beijing in 2016, I have never experienced anything remotely similar to this more extended stay. Having a Chinese-speaking guide and the opportunity to speak to “friendly” locals (none of whom can be named out of concerns for their safety) provided more perspective than a tourist would normally have. It would be foolish for an...

On Sunday, the nation’s heart broke again as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius opened fire inside an El Paso Walmart, killing 22 people and injuring at least 26 individuals between the ages of two and 82. Minutes before the shooting, Crusius took to the website 8chan to post a manifesto that cobbles together racial and economic collectivism with environmental extremism in a way distinctive of the Alt-Right. As I noted in my Acton University lecture on the subject, the term Alt-Right as...

A crisis in the adoption and foster system is currently plaguing the nation. With over 400,000 children in need of homes, a shortage of placements is driving some states to desperate measures, even housing children in hotels and office buildings. States should be working to support and safeguard the work of adoption and foster care providers, however discrimination motivated by anti-religious bias is posing an obstacle to some state contracted and private agencies. Kate Anderson, senior legal counsel at Alliance...