Over on First Things, Michael W. Hannon, David J. Pederson, and Peter A. Blair write about the injustices of inequality. In many parts of their short article they had me nodding in agreement. But as with much that is written about e and wealth inequality, the article makes assertions that seem to have no basis in economic reality. For instance, the authors seem to claim that e inequality leads to power inequality which “harms civic friendship.” Charles Murray’s research in...

Why the disconnect between work and worship? To reckon with this question, the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics (IFWE) blog recently launched a series on “Work and the Church Today.” In part one, Hugh Welchel, Executive Director of the IFWE, addresses the widening distance between the pew and the cubicle and, in response, prods the Church to invest itself in the lives of its businesspeople. Without any integration of faith and work, he says, professionals will continue to feel...

Is ‘fair’ trade really more fair or more just than free trade? Does fair trade create an unfair advantage that hurts the poor more than it helps? There are two different opportunities over the next few days where you can have the chance to explore this topic further. Acton will be hosting Professor Claar for an online discussion tomorrow, May 9, at 6:00pm ET. In the AU Online session of his popular lecture Fair Trade vs. Free Trade, he will...

Over on The American, Eric Kaufmann, a professor of politics at the University of London, argues that population change is reversing secularism and shifting the center of gravity of entire societies in a conservative religious direction: The growing Republican fertility advantage largely derives from religion. In the past, people had children for material reasons—many kids died young, and fresh hands were needed to work the land and provide for parents in their old age. Today, we live in cities and...

In a paper at the symposium I noted in yesterday’s post, Richard Helmholtz described the application of natural law in a particular case in which the judges observed that “charity begins at home,” since “it is a natural impulse to do good to one’s own family.” Because of the wonders of digital publishing and public libraries, I was able to borrow an ebook version of Winter’s Bone from my local library. As I noted yesterday, there’s a scene in the...

Virgil's Aeneas fleeing the sack of Troy with his father on his shoulders and leading his son by the hand. “Even the conventional everyday morality,” writes Vladimir Solovyov, demands that a man should hand down to his children not only the goods he has acquired, but also the capacity to work for the further maintenance of their lives. The supreme and unconditional morality also requires that the present generation should leave a two-fold legacy to the next,—in the first place,...

You only have a few days left to visit the website and register for the 2012 Acton University conference – the registration deadline is next Friday, May 18. Guided by distinguished, international faculty, Acton University is a four day experience (June 12-15) held in Grand Rapids, Mich. During the conference, our goal is to offer you an opportunity to deepen your knowledge and integrate rigorous philosophy, Christian theology and sound economics. If you have ever had the opportunity to attend...

I was privileged to participate this week in a conference at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, hosted by the Division for Roman Law and Legal History, “Law and Religion: The Legal Teachings of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations.” My paper today was titled, “Natural Law and Subsidiarity in Early Modern Reformed Perspective.” In this paper I explore some of the theological context in the sixteenth century among Reformed theologians like Wolfgang Musculus, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Jerome Zanchi, and Franciscus Junius that...

Recently, a Christian student group at Vanderbilt University has been told by the school’s administration that it will lose its recognized status on campus unless the group removes its requirement that its leaders have a mitment to Jesus Christ.”Administrators at the school had previously ruled thatreligious organizations must now allow any Vanderbilt student to be a candidate for a leadership office, regardless of religious beliefs or sexual orientation. For example, a Christian student group would be forced to allow the...

David Clayton, permanent artist-in-residence at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, has written an appealing piece at The Way of Beauty, that connects the seemingly unlikely arenas of liturgy and economics. His thoughts are based on The Wellspring of Worship, by Jean Corbon, in which Corbon associates work and culture to the human experience of worship and liturgy. Clayton admits that linking liturgy and economics may be a stretch, but upon further examination shows that, with a proper understanding of...