“Moneylending has been taboo for most of human history,” notes Alex Mayyasi. “So how did usury stop being a sin and e respectable finance?” Today, a banker listening to a theologian seems like a curiosity, a category error. But for most of history, this kind of dialogue was the norm. Hundreds of years ago, when modern finance arose in Europe, moneylenders moderated their behaviour in response to debates among the clergy about how to apply the Bible’s teachings to an...

In his famous work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber attempted to draw a clear link between the Protestant Reformation and the rise of capitalism, focusing mostly on the Puritans and their (faulty) connections between spiritual significance and economic prosperity. But while Weber may have offered some significant observations on the developments of his day, his overall theory has long been dismissed and discredited on a number of grounds, whether historical, theological, or economic. “Weber missed...

A vital fact lies buried in the recent IFS study on e inequality: the most effective way to alleviate poverty. This was true even though the IFS study, and UK government statistics, don’t actually measure poverty but rather inequality. Maybe it’s best to say the IFS study contains the secret to reducing both phenomena. Whichever metric one uses, according to the IFS report the most effective way to reduce that number is through work. The UK government defines “poverty” as...

Two weeks ago, a group of scholars from around the world gathered in Notre Dame, Indiana for Holy Cross College’s Labor and Leisure Conference. Among the many present was scholar Joseph Zahn, who presented his paper, “The Status of Leisure in the Human Person: Whether Leisure is a Virtue?” With levity in his voice, Zahn began: “Writing a paper on leisure without leisure is a difficult, if not utterly futile, task.” Set to begin his doctoral studies in philosophy at...

In April, the Trump administration provided a broad outline of proposed reforms, including simplifying tax brackets, eliminating the marriage penalty, and creating child care deductions. The National Catholic Register recently published an article on the reforms, focusing on its effect on the family. Rev. Robert Sirico, co-founder and president of the Acton Institute, provided his thoughts on Trump’s plan: “A refundable tax credit, instead of a direct subsidy from the government, is more in line with the principle of subsidiarity,”...

Earlier this week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the Justice Department would be reinstating the Equitable Sharing Program, a controversial policy related to civil asset forfeiture. Several states have been making it more difficult to apply such forfeitures so this allows state and local law enforcement to explicitly circumvent state forfeiture restrictions. Here’s what you should know aboutcivil asset forfeiture. What is civil asset forfeiture? Civil asset forfeiture (hereafter CAF) is a controversial legal tool that allows law enforcement officials...

For the past decade, Catholic education has been on the decline. Data from the 2016-2017 National Catholic Education Association Report shows that since 2006, the number of Catholic schools has decreased by 14 percent and the number of students attending Catholic school has decreased by 17.6 percent. Perhaps Teach for Christ can help reverse this trend. The name may ring a bell, as it bears resemblance to the existing program Teach for America. However, Teach for Christ, which will be...

In the modern lexicon, “tolerance” stands alongside “equality” as an unquestioned and absolute good, a cornerstone of transatlantic values. True tolerance has brought the West unparalleled prosperity. But what kind of “tolerance” should we advance, and what other cultural concepts must support it? In a new essay for Religion & Liberty Transatlantic,Josh Herring examines “The foundation of true tolerance.” He begins with the triumph of tolerance in public discourse: In The Ethics of Rhetoric, University of Chicago rhetorician Richard Weaver...

Note: This is post #42 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. In petitive market, pany can’t control how much they charge for goods and services. So how do firms maximize profits when they don’t control prices? In this video by Marginal Revolution University, Alex Tabarrok defines profit, including how to calculate total revenue and total cost, and covers costs, variable costs, marginal revenue, and marginal cost. (If you find the pace of the videos too slow, I’d mend...

Society praises equality as an absolute good. Certainly, equality before God and the law are pillars of a free society. However, measuring economic equality is often misleading for three key reasons. I was reminded of this by a new Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report on e inequality in Great Britain released on Wednesday. The BBC’s headline “UK inequality reduced since 2008” typifies the media coverage. However, the study reveals that much of the leveling came about because the wealthiest...