This article is written by Moris Polanco, originally published by Instituto Fe y Libertad and republished with permission. The elderly cardinal Zen Ze-kiun, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, said in his blog on February 5, 2018, “The brothers and sisters of mainland China are not afraid of being reduced to poverty, of being put into prison, of shedding their blood. Their greatest suffering is to see themselves betrayed by ‘family.’” He’s right. For a moment let’s put ourselves in the...

This is the third in a series celebrating the work of Russell Kirk in honor of his 100th birthday this October. Read more from the serieshere. As a young college student entering the fray of campus debates, I became enthralled with a particular variety of libertarian thought. Though once a conservative, I began to pack my brain with the likes of Bastiat, Mises, Hayek, and Rothbard. I grew confident in my opinions about policy and was proud of the ideological...

In a recent article for The American Spectator, Rev. Ben Johnson, senior editor at the Acton Institute, addresses some of the problems that arise for the Church as a result of Amazon’s recent wage raises. According to Johnson, “Amazon recently announced that it is raising the wage of its lowest-paid U.S. workers to $15 an hour, and above the proposed ‘real living wage’ in the UK.” es in addition to Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos’ “plans to lobby Congress to raise...

There is likely no public secular holiday more controversial than Columbus Day. Since the observance first began to be celebrated in the nineteenth century it has been opposed by a diverse rage of groups, from the Ku Klux Klan to the American Indian Movement to the National Council of Churches. The Italian navigator tends to provoke strong reactions throughout the Western Hemisphere, and every year we renew our debates about whether he was a bold and brave explorer or a...

Let me take a moment to brag about my colleagueSamuel Gregg, the Director of Research here at the Acton Institute. Almost every week we post an article or video by Gregg here on the PowerBlog, and yes, that’s partiallybecause he’s one of us. But we’d be promoting his work even if he wasn’t a part of Acton for the simple reason that Gregg is one of the most articulate defenders of ordered liberty in the world. Don’t just take my...

“Just last week I was telling a colleague that I hoped Paul Romer would finally win the Nobel prize in economics,” says Victor V. Claar in this week’s Acton Commentary. “And then he did.” I’ve been a Paul Romer fan since I started teaching intermediate macroeconomics more than a decade ago—the “macro” course college students might take following the introductory one. Because most economics teaching involves good storytelling, I’ve thought a lot about how Romer fits into the story of...

On this episode of Radio Free Acton, John Couretas, Director of Communications at Acton, speaks with Aaron Rhodes, a human rights activist based out of Hamburg, Germany, about Aaron’s new book “The Debasement of Human Rights.” Where does the notion of human e from and how can we better defend it? Then Caroline Roberts, Producer of Radio Free Acton, talks to Stephen Smith, Professor of Economics at Hope College, about the new North American trade agreement, the USMCA. They discuss...

Note: This is post #96 in a weekly video series on basic economics. The stock market is prone to certain anomalies. There’s the Monday Effect (where stocks fall more on Mondays), the January Effect (which says that stocks surge higher in that month), and the Momentum Effect (where past stock performance predicts future performance, at least a bit). Can’t a savvy investor take advantage of these anomalies to “beat” the market? Probably not. “Despite its flaws, the market is still...

It was a curious sight to see a Wall Street Journal op-ed call for social engineering to change the way families choose to raise newborn babies. It was more curious yet to see right-leaning Catholics endorse the notion “in the name of conservative family values.” This is especially true, as Europe shows the manifest failures and harmful effects of their chosen policy. Joanne Lipman opened the debate with her op-ed titled, “Want Equality? Make New Dads Stay Home.” She highlighted...

The Institute of Economic Affairs explores the ethical argument for a free economy – and why Christians are not making it. In the latest episode of its podcast, an Anglican priest and a Catholic scholar discuss that question, as well as Archbishop Justin Welby’s homily against Amazon, Jesus’ supposed condemnation of wealth, and why clergy tend to support government intervention into the economy. Fr. Marcus Walker, Rector of St. Bartholomew’s Church (COE) in London, speaks with Religion & Liberty Transatlantic...