The problem munitarianism, claims Bradley C. S. Watson, is that it views religion as an instrumental good and individual virtue as destructive: es to sight as a movement that sees, far more clearly than liberalism, that the private sphere and private goods are rooted in, and in turn have an effect on, public goods. President Clinton, as a “new” Democrat, has effectively enlisted the intellectual backing of munitarian theorists in his efforts to distance himself and his party from the...

e inequality has been around as long as humans have had es, yet over the past year it has been presented as one of our economy’s greatest injustices. With so much shoddy zero-sum reasoning being presented, it’s refreshing to find an economist who can apply both sound economic and Biblical thinking to the topic. Anne Bradley, Vice President of Economic Initiatives at the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, has a blog series summarizing her research report, “Why Does e...

One of the powerful things about Memorial Day is that we live in munity and an America that is worthy of sacrifice. Many feel, for good reason, the foundational ideals of our Republic are in peril. The proclamation of the first Memorial Day by General John A. Logan in 1868 stated the importance of guarding the graves of those slain in battle with “sacred vigilance.” It is a calling bestowed upon all of us to toil for improvement of mon...

Are you attending the 2012 Acton University conference? If so, I can only hope that you are as excited as I am about all of the wonderful things we have planned for the event. To get your mind in gear for the conference, why not participate in a Q&A session with a member of Acton’s staff? On Wednesday May 30 at 6:00pm ET, we will be organizing an AU Online Q&A session with Dr. Stephen Grabill, director of Programs and...

Last week I wondered about the student protests here in Quebec and the logic of the welfare state. In some conversations on these topics, I was challenged to consider the social meaning of phenomena like this (e.g. public protests of one kind or another). I’ll have some more to say about that later this week, I think, but for now, I think that it is true that from a certain point of view, regardless of the merits of an individual...

Rev. Robert A. Sirico, President of the Acton Institute, continues to make appearances in the media to promote his new book, Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy. Today’s appearances include an guest spot this morning on the voice of the Mid-Ohio Valley, WMOV, on WMOV Live with Greg Gack: [audio: Father Robert was also in-studio today with G. Gordon Liddy, broadcasting nationwide from Washington, D.C.: [audio: You’ll also be able to listen to Rev. Sirico...

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf has reviewed Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for Free Economy at his popular blog, “What Does the Prayer Really Say”. This is a timely book, given that we are in a crucially important election cycle in the USA. Profoundly different visions are on ballot in November. A major dimension of the different visions involves contingent choices concerning the economy, and therefore jobs, entitlements, etc. In the last chapter Sirico describes the fictive homo economicus, a...

If you haven’t ordered your copy of Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy, what are you waiting for? For those who still need some convincing, Rev. Robert Sirico continues to make the media rounds, and we continue to bring you the highlights. Last night, Rev. Sirico was the guest of Raymond Arroyo on The World Over on the EWTN network; you can watch his 20 minute appearance below: Father Robert also made a radio appearance...

Fr. Robert Sirico appeared on Varney & Co. May 24. Here is his interview: Fr. Sirico on Varney & Co. ...

Today marks the official launch of the new and improved website for the Journal of Markets & Morality. In addition to the new design, we also have included a search feature whereby anyone who wants can search back issues for keywords, authors, names, and so on. For example, a search for “Alexis de Tocqueville” yields 29 results, and a search for “subsidiarity” turns up 78! As is our current policy, everything up to the two most recent issues is free...