One of the popular targets of foreign aid is education, and understandably so.Yet as with most solutions sprouting from Western planners anddo-gooders, the reality on the ground is a bit different than we typicallyimagine.Likewise, the solutions are often closer than we’re led to believe. In his book, The Beautiful Tree, James Tooley chronicles his own investigative journey throughout the developing world, seekingto uncover the local realities of educational opportunity. missionedby the World Bank to investigate private schools in adozen developing...

American and Canadian college faculty: Acton is accepting proposals for mini-grants on free market economics. If you’re a professor or you know of a professor teaching in the United States or Canada, be sure to visit the Mini-Grants page. The deadline to turn in proposals is March 31, 2016 and grants can range from $1,000 to $10,000. Acton is accepting applications for proposals in course development and faculty scholarship. Interested in applying, but not sure how to get started? Here...

Note: This is the latest entry in the Acton blog series, “What Christians Should Know About Economics.” For other entries inthe series seethis post. The Term:Crony capitalism (sometimes referred to as cronyism or corporatism) What it means:Crony capitalism is a general term for the range of activities in which particular individuals or businesses in a market economy receive government-granted privileges over their customers petitors. Why it Matters: For as long as there have been government officials, there have been economic...

“Evangelicals are starting to believe in institutions again — and not a moment too soon.” So beginsJordan Ballor and Robert Joustra’s introduction to a newcollection of essays, The Church’s Social Responsibility: Reflections on Evangelicalism and Social Justice, whichponders the role of the church and the shape of its social witness. “Organized religion, long the object of derision by authenticity-addicted millennials and prophets of the new atheism alike, is losing its boogeyman status among younger generations,” they continue. “Thus has begun...

Today is the 133 birthday of the late Austrian-born economist, Joseph A. Schumpeter. A Finance Minister of Austria and later Harvard professor, Schumpeter coined the term “creative destruction” in explaining how capitalism delivers progress: The opening up of new markets, foreign or domestic, and the organizational development from the craft shop to such concerns as U.S. Steel illustrate the same process of industrial mutation—if I may use that biological term—that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the...

“Sociological determinism informs our public policy,” says Ismael Hernandez in this week’s Acton Commentary. “Those with a stake in the maintenance and expansion of government bureaucracies feed upon pathology and find a willing constituency among those who perceive the world in terms of victims and perpetrators.” If men are not free, they are not responsible for their misdeeds and ought instead to be treated with pity for falling prey to tragic misfortunes. They are to be healed by those who...

What just happened? On Tuesday the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Obama administration’s effort to regulate emissions from coal-fired power plants. The vote was 5-to-4, with the court’s four liberal members dissenting, to put a temporary halt on the implementation of anEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule change. Why is this significant? As the New York Times notes, the Supreme Court had never before granted a request to halt a regulation before review by a federal appeals court: “It’s a stunning...

Conservatives are known for arguing about the ill effects of over-regulation, reminding ushow itstifles innovation, cramps entrepreneurship, and harms small businesses.Where we’re lesseffective is connecting this reality to the more fundamental abuses itwields on human dignity in general and the poor and vulnerable in particular. In a 45-minute talk given at Heritage Action, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska offers a detailed critique of over-regulation in America. Pointing first to the proper scope of regulatory policies, Sasse proceeds to note the...

What is the President’s budget? Technically, it’s only a budgetrequest—a proposal telling Congress how much money the President believes should be spent on the various Cabinet-level federal functions, like agriculture, defense, education, etc. (A PDF of the 182 page document can be found here.) Why does the President submit a budget to Congress? The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires that the President of the United States submit to Congress, on or before the first Monday in February of each...

Previously this week, The Wall Street Journal presented a list of “7 Things Investors Should Be Watching for a 2016 Unfolds.” While there’s much in Michael A. Pollock’s article to mend it to readers who might’ve missed it, there’s also one significant omission – Number Eight, if you will: A Rise in Proxy Resolutions by Religious Shareholder Activists. Shortly after reading the WSJ article, your writer received an email from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, the “corporate God-flies” who...