The Dutch theologian and statesman Abraham Kuyper is well-known for his articulation of sphere sovereignty, and the following passage from the third volume of his Common Grace trilogy is a clear and balanced summary of this doctrine, particularly as it relates to the limits of government action. In this chapter he is addressing the question of whether mon grace that impacts social life and society is exclusively mediated through government or not: There can therefore be no disputing the independent...

It is a bright note of hope, set against the present daunting darkness, that shines throughout Samuel Gregg’s “Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization,” both illuminating the past and shedding much-needed light on the present situation, says Carl Olson, in his recent review for The Imaginative Conservative. Dr. Gregg, who has written widely on politics and culture while working as director of research at the Acton Institute, is careful to point out that not all of the West’s...

Although the British monarchy lost most of its formal power, it still exercises a number of functions in society: symbol of unity and continuity, devoted servant, and good example. Prince Harry put this last activity in peril when he said he would have no more than two children. When Prince Harry mentioned having children in an interview with Jane Goodall in the ing issue of Vogue magazine, she jokingly scolded His Royal Highness, “Not too many!” “Two, maximum!” he replied....

Given President Trump’s new wave of nationalism—economic, political, and otherwise—various factions of conservatism have been swimming in lengthy debates about the purpose of the nation-state and whether classical liberalism has any enduring value in our age of globalization. Unfortunately, those debates have been panied by increasing noise and violence from white nationalists, a dark and sinister movement hoping to exploit the moment for their own destructive ends. To fully confront and diffuse such evil, we’d do well to properly ground...

In recent months, the question of America’s ballooning public debt has started receiving more attention. Far less interest, by contrast, has been given to the growing amount of private debt. A recent Wall Street Journal article, however, highlighted a growing phenomenon that, I think, merits more attention. This concerns the use of debt by middle-class American families to maintain their lifestyle. Whether it is medical care, housing, or college education for their children, middle-class Americans are increasingly using debt to...

Deutsche Bank, once one of the giants of European finance, is in deep financial trouble. Matt Egan of CNN Business helpfully summarizes the difficulties, Germany’s biggest lender israpidly slashing jobs,it’slosing a ton of moneyand the stock is trading near all-time lows. Many of Deutsche Bank’s problems are self-inflicted. It’s been badly mismanaged. Deutsche Bank (DB) never fully cleaned up its crisis-era balance sheet. Restructuring efforts fell short. And itscountless legal black eyeshaven’t helped matters. But Deutsche Bank’s struggles have also...

A really interesting chat about the Roman Empire on this week’s podcast with Samuel Gregg and Larry Reed (register for Reed’s talk today here). Gregg helped expand the scope of the discussion by noting that the Roman Empire actually lasted for more than 1,000 years — in the East. In Constantinople, they understood themselves as Ρωμαίοι, Romans. Image: The Hagia Sophia; mons [Originally published August 2009] The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Edited by Elizabeth Jeffreys, John Haldon, Robin Cormack....

Peter Drucker’s first book, The End of Economic Man (1939), attempted to explain the growing appeal of fascism and munism in the first half of the twentieth century. For example, he wrote: The old aims and plishments of democracy: protection of dissenting minorities, clarification of issues through free promise between equals, do not help in the new task of banishing the demons. …If we decide that we have to abolish or curtail economic freedom as potentially demon-provoking, the danger is...

While working on a recording together, Johnny Cash is reported to have asked Bob Dylan if he knew “Ring of Fire.” Dylan said he did and began to play it on the piano, croaking it out in typical Dylanesque fashion. When he was done he turned to his friend and said, “It goes something like that, right?” “No,” said Cash shaking his head. “It doesn’t go like that at all.” I can understand how Cash felt; I often get the...

If you suffer from acid reflux, your doctor may prescribe Nexium. But at $9 a pill, the price is enough to give you a worse case of heartburn. That’s the lowest price in the U.S. If you live in Canada, though, you can get the drug for less than a $1 a pill. This price disparity leads many politicians to think the solution is obvious: Americans should just buy drugs from Canada or other countries where they are cheaper. Its...