In the following clip from the PovertyCure series, Doug Seebeckexplains how U.S.agricultural subsidies have significantnegative consequences both at home and abroad— misaligning human action, distorting market signals, and diminishing opportunities for the least of these. Haiti used to be self-sufficient in rice. Now they get all their rice from the U.S. This is what we do to Africa. We subsidize our agriculture. We overproduce. Then we ship it as aid with a handshake, and we put them out of business....

In his otherwise excellent work The Problem of Poverty, the Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper, as a man of his time (the late-nineteenth and early twentieth mended the merits of colonialism as if there were not already people in other lands with their own calling to “till the earth” that God had made. While unfortunate for his time and context, recent events may open up a case in which colonization may be the Christian duty Kuyper believed it to be: Mars....

Are you now or have you ever been a Randian?Over at The Stream, John Zmirak takes on a new McCarthyism which he says smears small-government Catholics as libertarian heretics. pares the “outrageous instances of red-baiting” during the 1950s to the current practice by some leftist Catholics who tar conservative opponents indiscriminately as devotees of Ayn Rand, whether or not they have actual evidence of such sympathies. Zmirak: The idea of a detailed, consistent, morally binding body of economic and political...

Human trafficking is increasingly gaining public awareness. Law enforcement, social workers, first responders – all are beginning to receive training regarding human trafficking. And that’s all very good. But it’s hardly enough. It is much easier to help a person in a high-risk situation avoid trafficking than to try and put a human being back together after they’ve been brutalized by traffickers. munities, church and charitable organizations must all learn what situations in their own areas put people at risk...

The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America has published a new report on Orthodox Monastic Communities in the United States (here). The report contains a lot of great information (“great” for nerds like me, anyway), including a whole section entitled, “‘Monastic Economy:’ Ownership of Property and Sources of e in US Orthodox Monasteries.” According to the report, In summary, the three mon sources of e in US Orthodox monasteries are: Occasional private donations including bequests and...

Over the past two decades there has been an increased interest and promotion of the Biblical meaning of work and the Christian view of vocation. Many groups have contributed to this revival, including the Acton Institute (last year we launchedOikonomia, a blog at Patheos’Faith and Work Channel, dedicated to providing resources specific to the intersection of faith, work, and economics). While the faith and work conversation has been exceedingly fruitful, it has also been rather limited to what can be...

Over the past 60+ years, Israel has emerged as an economic powerhouse despite all odds. With only 7.1 million people, no natural resources, and surrounded by enemies and constant threats, it has somehow managed to attract nearly $2 billion in venture capital. It produces more panies than large countries like Japan, India, Korea, and the United Kingdom, and has panies on the NASDAQ than any country other the United States. Given its range of challenges, how can this be? In...

Acton Institute Director of Research Samuel Gregg joined Al Kresta on Ave Maria Radio’s Kresta in the Afternoon on Tuesday to discuss the interesting public relations dilemma of Pope Francis: on the one hand, it is alleged that faithful Catholics may be “checking out” of his papacy due to his perceived liberalism on economic and social issues. On the other hand, the honeymoon period that Francis enjoyed with the media and left-leaning Catholics may ing to an end as it...

When Botswana gained independence from the British in 1966, the nation was the third-poorest in the world. Then, for three decades it was the world’s fastest growing economy. Today it’s in the top 15 richest countries in Africa. What accounts for the miraculous turnaround? As the Daily Signal notes, the country embraced democracy, free markets, and the rule of law. ...

International Justice Mission [IJM] works around the world to bolster rule of law, fight corruption and help human trafficking victims. In India, human trafficking – both sex trafficking and labor trafficking – is rampant. IJM announced that government officials (who had been trained by and working with IJM) were able to free 333 people from labor trafficking at a brick factory last week. They [the trafficking victims] lived in tiny, thatched-roof huts. Each couple was responsible to make 2,000 bricks...