Advocates of economic freedom have a peculiar habit of only promotingthe merits of the free markets as they relate to innovation, poverty alleviation, and economic transformation. In response, critics are quick to lament a range of “disruptive” side effects, whether on munities or human well-being. Alas, in over-elevating the fruits of material welfare, we forget that suchfreedom is just as important as a restraint against the social dangers of an intrusive state as it is an accelerantto economic progress. If...

The following graph, in various forms, is making the rounds: [Image removed.] The suggestion of the graph (and usually mentary by those who share it) is that Sec. Hillary Clinton lost to President-elect Donald Trump because Democrats didn’t turn out to vote for her like they did for President Obama. The idea is that Hillary Clinton was a historically unpopular candidate. This is true. Second only to Donald Trump, she was the least liked candidate of all time, at least...

The final issue of Religion & Liberty for 2016 is now available online. It will explore a breadth and depth of topics, including the “ten dollar founding father,” why we need those dollars, the danger of a utopian dream and more. For the main feature, Victor Claar interviews Vernon Smith, who won the Nobel Prize for economics in 2002. He describes the relationships among many things we might not think are connected, especially the interplay between economics, science and religion....

Each week my neighbors and I engage in a curious ethical ritual. On Wednesday morning before we leave for work we set outside our doors an artifact that expresses our obligation to the welfare of future generations. We call these objects recycling bins. Recycling is one example of an action that we take in the present to benefit a group in the future. The earth has enough space and resources that all current generations could be extremely wasteful without having...

“In spite of socialism’s sorry track record, millions of well-meaning people think it’s a virtual synonym passion,” says Lawrence Reed. “But socialists themselves are constantly retreating from their own handiwork. It’s socialism until it doesn’t work, then it was never socialism in the first place. It’s socialism until the wrong guys get in charge, then it’s everything but.” Socialism never seems to have any theory of wealth creation, only fanciful schemes for its reallocation after somebody goes to the trouble...

UPDATE: The full interview is now available online. ### In June, Nobel economist Vernon L. Smith gave an Acton University speech titled “Faith and the Compatibility of Science and Religion.” While he was in Grand Rapids, he sat down with Victor V. Claar and went into some of the specifics of his lecture, as well as his vast experience in economics, including experimental economics. Their conversation was recorded as the cover feature for the Fall issue of Religion & Liberty....

Recently, RossDouthat gave a talk at St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto on the question, “Can You Be a Harvard Catholic?” The Harvard grad and New York Times columnist said he has always found religion to be a personal and professional asset to his career, not a hindrance. He mused that this may be particularly the case because of his distinctive path as a journalist. “Weirdness is good,” he said. “It connects you to the mass of human...

Note: This is the tenthpost in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. In this video Tyler Cowen modity taxes, including who pays the tax and lost gains from trade, also called deadweight loss. He also considers how the tax wedge would apply to the example of Social Security taxes. (If you find the pace of the videos too slow, I’d mend watching them at 1.5 to 2 times the speed. You can adjust the speed at which the video...

In this edition of Radio Free Acton, we speak with cultural historian and author Victoria Coates on the capacity of democracy to inspire great works of art. Coates is the author of David’s Sling: The History of Democracy in Ten Works of Art, and spoke on the topic as part of the 2016 Acton Lecture Series. You can listen to the podcast via the audio player below, and her full Acton Lecture Series presentation is available here. ...

Did Pope Francis just publicly endorse Communism? ments have prompted many to suggest he has. During an interview with Eugenio Scalfari, they had the following exchange: [Scalfari:] You told me some time ago that the precept, “Love your neighbour as thyself” had to change, given the dark times that we are going through, and e “more than thyself.” So you yearn for a society where equality dominates. This, as you know, is the programme of Marxist socialism and then munism....