Roberty P. Murphy at the 2014 Acton Lecture SeriesOn this edition of Radio Free Acton, we talk about sound money with economist and author Robert P. Murphy. What is money? Why does it have value? What happens when a government detaches the value of money from gold or modities? We look at these questions, find out what our dollars are really worth, and look at ways to restore the value of our money. You’ll recall that Murphy was a guest...

What is the best way to help the the global poor? One group attempting to bring innovative thinking to that question is PovertyCure, an initiative of the Acton Institute. PovertyCure brings together an international coalition to encourage entrepreneurial solutions to poverty that are rooted in a Christian understanding of the person, who is created in the image of God. Michael Matheson Miller, the director of PovertyCure, was recently interviewed about the project by the National Catholic Register: What are some...

November 20 was established as Universal Children’s Day in 1954 by the United Nations. The UN has imagined this as a day of building fraternity between children and raising awareness for children’s welfare. If we really care about children’s welfare, we need to stop pretending. We need to stop pretending that it’s not in the best interest of children to have a mom and a dad who are married and live together. We need to stop pretending that children are...

For the fourth time in thirty years, well-intentioned but misguided musicians have recorded a new version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,” a cheesy Christmas song intended to raise awareness and funds for Africa. But why don’t Africans everyraise awareness and aid for Westerners? Fortunately, one group of Africans has united to save Norwegians from dying of frostbite. By joining Radi-Aid, you too can donate your radiator and spread some warmth in the frozen wasteland of Norway. Why Africa for...

The Vatican is currently hosting a three-day inter-faith conference and discussion entitled Humanum. According to their website, it is … a gathering of leaders and scholars from many religions across the globe, to examine and propose anew the beauty of the relationship between the man and the woman, in order to support and reinvigorate marriage and family life for the flourishing of human society. Witnesses will draw from
 the wisdom of their religious tradition and cultural experience as they attest...

Sometimes the current decisions we make today can affect the options that e available to us in thefuture time. For example, I may spend less money today in order to be able to spend more at a future point in time, such as duringretirement. The name for this economic concept is “intertemporal choice.” What we expect or desire to happen in the future can affect the choices we make now. While this concept may appear obvious, it can have significant...

What is the connection between private property and conscience rights? “If there is no private property,” says Michael Novak in this week’s Acton Commentary, “there is also no independent leg to stand on in speaking for one’s conscience — and not only one’s individual conscience.” In Poland and elsewhere, munities had inspired and led the nations for hundreds of years. In such places, people were not imprisoned solely in their own individual power, which was little. Sometimes they acted through...

Christianity sets forththat humans are made in the image of God — that we have particular God-like characteristics when es to creation, passion, relationship, and so on. Such a remarkabletruthtells us something deeply profound about the world we live in, as well ashow we ought to respond inany number of situations. In an excerpted video from the PovertyCure series, John Stonestreet explains how the Christianworldviewtransforms our approachto poverty: From the video: The Christian worldview teaches that as individuals we are...

My mother, a registered nurse, worked for years for our small town doctor. She would drive around the countryside, going to check on elderly folks or those who didn’t drive. We had a number of people who came to our house regularly for things like allergy shots. She kept their vials of medication, rubbing alcohol, cotton balls and syringes in our kitchen cupboard. The doctor (who was the sort to exchange his services for things like eggs and fresh meat)...

Almost twenty years ago I learned an important lesson in Christian ethics from a Jewish writer. In his book, Think a Second Time, Dennis Prager explains a principle from the Talmud about consumer ethics. While I had read several book about business ethics, I don’t recall ever hearing much, if anything, about the ethical obligations of consumers. Prager helped me see not only how the “shopkeeper’s law” should apply to my consumer choices, but also to many of the relationships...