This week at the Institute for Faith, Work and Economics, contributor James Clark asked, “Can microfinance really help the poor?” His conclusion: yes microfinance can work, but with certain caveats. In the last decade, microfinance has e a popular strategy in poverty alleviation, yet many economists and philanthropists often call its effectiveness into question. In his article Clark says that “Christians have embraced microfinance as a solution to poverty that helps the poor help themselves, but we must ensure that...

A solid case could be made that the most powerful natural law in the universe is the “law of unintended consequences.” It’s definitely the dominant force when es to public policy. For example, in 2007 Congress created the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which was designed to encourage young workers to seek government and nonprofit jobs that pay far less than what they’d get in the private sector. The program forgives the remaining balance on direct loans after a borrower...

Note: This second article in a two-part series on the Republican Party Platform. Part I can be found here. In the previous articlewe looked atsummary outline of the Republican platform as it relates to several non-economic issues covered by the Acton Institute. Today, we’ll look at the GOP’s economic agenda as laid out in the platform. Because the document is long (66 pages) and covers an extensive variety of economic-related areas (agriculture, energy) this list won’t be exhaustive. But it...

During the recent Republican National Convention the GOP delegates voted to adopt their party’s platform,a document that outlines the statement of principles and policies that the party has decided it will support. Although the document is not binding on the presidential nominee or any other politicians,political scientists have foundthat over the past 30 years lawmakers in Congress tend to vote in line with their party’s platform: 89 percent of the time for Republicans and 79 percent of the time for...

Last week, House Speaker Paul Ryan sat down with NPR to discuss, among other things, poverty. As the highest ranking member of the House, Ryan has a crucial opportunity to change the way the government addresses poverty. In his plans to confront this issue, Ryan munity efforts and local solutions central. During the last four years, Ryan made visits to several poverty-stricken areas munity organizer Bob Woodson in order to better understand the challenges these munities face. Through these visits,...

People have strong opinions on a variety of subjects in which they don’t have an advanced degree or training. Yet when es to economics many people defer to “experts.” But asHa-Joon Chang, a South Korean economist who specializes in development, says, “Economics is for everyone.” Chang argues that we shouldn’t rely on experts to tell us what is true about economics (because they probably don’t know) but instead rely on our monsense to help us make sense of plicated world....

Throughout his presidential campaign Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that Mexico is “killing us on trade” because of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This metaphor of trade as war or conflict is mon trope among leftists. But is it true? Are Americans harmed by trade deficits? As Johan Norberg explains this notion is “dead wrong.” And to see why we just have to look at the iPhone. ...

After almost a hundred years of seeing the effects of socialism and other government interventions in the market, American attitudes began to change in the 1980s and 1990s. The benefits of deregulation and privatization began to seem obvious and more people began to embrace free enterprise. But as Daniel Yergin notes, there is now a shift away from markets due partially to “fading memories of the old order—or no memories at all.” Voters under 30 were either very small or...

On sale now at the Acton Book Store The role of economic liberty in contributing to human flourishing and mon good remains deeply underappreciated, even by those who are dedicated to religious liberty. – Samuel Gregg Gregg is acontributor of One and Indivisible: The Relationship Between Religious and Economic Freedom, on sale now in the Acton Book Shop. Compiled by Kevin Schmiesing, the book contains 13 essays from highly acclaimed authors, speakers, and religious leaders, including Michael Matheson Miller, Anielka...

How do we live in a fallen world under Christ the King? In partnership with the Acton Institute, Lexham Press has now released Pro Rege: Living Under Christ the King, Volume 1, the first in a three-volume series on the lordship of Christ. Originally written as a series ofarticles for readers of De Herault (The Herald), the work was designedfor “the rank and file of the munity in the Netherlands,” not academic theologians, offering a uniquely accessible view into Kuyper’s...