If it wasn’t for Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump would winthe title of most economically illiterate presidential candidate in the short history of the twenty-first century. A prime example of why he’d earn this ignoble title is Trump’s opposition to free trade — a position which, not surprisingly, he shares with Sanders. The only real difference between Sanders and Trump on this issue is that no one trust that Trump would actuallycarry out his proposed destructive policies (he’d flip-flop on the...

The film “Spotlight” won 2016 best picture and original screenplay Oscars but Acton Institute co-founder and President Rev. Robert A. Sirico “eviscerated the Academy for embracing ‘Spotlight’ while it celebrated a child molester in its own ranks,” according to the Hollywood gossip site TMZ. The interview was picked up by which reported that “while Sirico agreed the film ‘underscores the great shame’ of the chapter in the Church’s history, he hammered the industry for standing by confessed child sex abuser...

What the story about? Last week the Senate passed, and President Obama signed into law, a bill that would block imports “made with convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor.” The new law is enforceable under Trans-Pacific Partnership, a sweeping multinational trade pact affecting 40 percent of the world’s economy. What constitutes “forced labor”? According to 19 U.S. Code § 1307, “Forced labor refers to all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any...

Pew Research Center recently looked at the data from their 2014 Religious Landscape Study to highlight the affiliations, demographics, religious practices and political beliefs of various religious groups in the United States. Here are seven figures you should know from the report: 1. The group that leans most heavily toward the Republican Party is Mormons. Seven-in-ten U.S. Mormons identify with the party or say they lean toward the pared with 19% who identify as or lean Democratic — a difference...

Series Note: Jobs are one of the most important aspects of a morally functioning economy. They help us serve the needs of our neighbors and lead to human flourishing both for the individual and munities. Conversely, not having a job can adversely affect spiritual and psychological well-being of individuals and families. Because unemployment is a spiritual problem, Christians in America need to understand and be aware of the monthly data on employment. Each month highlight the latest numbers we need...

Despite the plaints aboutthe attitudes, ethics, and attention spans of millennials, it can be easy to forget the failures of generations gone by. Not unlike the baby boomers of yore, we millennialswereraised in a world of unparalleled prosperity and opportunity. This has its blessings, to be sure, but it also brings with it newtemptations to view our lives in grandiose terms, punctuated by blinking lights and marked by the vocabulary of“world change” and “social transformation.” Behold, we are the justice...

“What would happen when these populisms collide at the first Francis-Trump summit?” asks Kishore Jayabalan in this week’s Acton Commentary. “We may shudder at the thought, but if Catholicism and strident nationalism are indeed so opposed, we may be left waiting for another St. Augustine to resolve the tensions between the City of God and the City of Man.” Augustine wrestled with the question of whether Christians can be good citizens and turned his attention to the vices of pagan...

Western activistsand foreign aid experts often pretend as though material redistribution is enough to elevate the world’s poor. All we must do is give people the “tools” to do their work, they’ll say, and developing nations will take it from there. What these “tools” consist of is a bit more blurry. The more serious development experts and economists recognize the need for immediate relief, but point to deeper factors and obstacles that prevent or accelerate the path to long-term prosperity...

Your humble writer takes no pleasure in reminding readers that he told them so, but a post from last December now seems prescient. The post began: In the wake of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, or COP21), so-called “religious” shareholder activists are intent on ruining investments, crashing the economy and doubling down on their efforts to promote energy poverty throughout the world. At that time, focus was on the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and the...

Since the era of Adam Smith economists have been asking, “What creates wealth?” One key answer is specialization and trade. On a timeline of human history, the recent rise in standards of living resembles a hockey stick — flatlining for all of human history and then skyrocketing in just the last few centuries. As economist Don Boudreaux explains, without specialization and trade, our ancient ancestors only consumed what they could make themselves. How can specialization and trade help explain the...