Alejandro Chafuen, Acton’s Managing Director, International, writes today in Forbes about free trade and its relation to the notions of reciprocity and protectionism — popular topics in our current political climate. Chafuen also cites the ideas of famed economists such as Adam Smith and Ludwig von Mises, who of course defended free trade but also allowed for exceptions. Mises even wrote, “Free trade is not the elimination of all tariffs,” maintaining, however, that free trade is always the ideal: “The...

The New York Times has obfuscated about the reality of Communism since the days of Walter Duranty. An op-ed published on Tuesday titled, “The World Is a Mess. We Need Fully Automated Luxury Communism” adds another chapter to this decades-long trend. The article is a lengthy excerpt from Aaron Bastani’s ing book, Fully Automated Luxury Communism: A Manifesto. The phrase “Fully Automated Luxury Communism” is another example of the Left’s ongoing campaign to affiliate socialism with … anything except real-life...

The life of the late British Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm is subject of Richard J. Evans’ newest book Eric Hobsbawm – A Life in History (2019). Evans is a scholar of Nazi Germany and like Hobsbawm, a former professor at Cambridge University. Before I start to analyze Evans’ book, I must make a personal note: My attachment to Hobsbawm’s work is not only intellectual but emotional. The first substantial book on history read by me was his The Age of...

Note: This is post #124 in a weekly video series on basic economics. What is fiscal policy? As economist Tyler Cowen explains, it’s a government’s policies on taxes, spending, and borrowing. But how it’s practiced is a little plicated. Fiscal policy can be used in an effort to mitigate fluctuations in the business cycle so as to soften the effects of booms and busts. In this video by Marginal Revolution University, Cowen discusses expansionary fiscal policy and explains the “fiscal...

Time is running out to apply for the Acton Institute’s Calihan Academic Grants! These awards are designed to support seminarians and graduate students in theology, philosophy, politics, economics, or related fields as they engage in serious study on the relationship between religion, liberty, theology, the free market, and the virtuous society. If you or someone you know is interested in applying, go to the Calihan Academic Grants page, where you can apply now or learn more about eligibility and application...

On this episode of Acton Line, we talk about HBO’s new miniseries, ‘Chernobyl’ and the events surrounding the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Pripyat, Ukraine in 1986. Kyle Smith, writer at National Review, joins us for this segment and explains how ‘Chernobyl’ is an indictment of socialism. Afterwards, Aaron Rhodes, human rights activist and co-founder of the Freedom Rights Project weighs in on the Department of State’s new Commission on Unalienable Rights and explains why he’s hopeful...

“Red, white, and gray: Population aging, deaths of despair, and the institutional stagnation of America” is a new essay by American Enterprise Institute Adjunct Fellow Lyman Stone touching on pressing demographic and policy issues in the United States. While the paper uncovers the bleak condition of some American institutions, it presents a hopeful horizon and strong call for action in our social life. As the title suggests, Stone opens by describing the American population’s increasing age, due in part to...

Nominations for the leadership of the Conservative Party – and, thus, to e the next prime minister of the United Kingdom – closed at 5 p.m. London time (noon EDT). The list of successful candidates was released by the 1922 Committee an hour later. Under new Tory rules, a candidate needed the support of eight Members of Parliament, up from two, in order to advance to the first round of voting. The 10 candidates running to succeed Theresa May as...

John Stossel says, “Yes,” at least according to a recent video at Reason. In the video, “Don’t Be Scared of Designer Babies,” Stossel interviews Georgetown University Professor Jason Brennan, who offers the following unhelpful and patronizing strawman of anyone who objects to the idea of using gene-editing technology to engineer one’s offspring however one wants: When you have any kind of intervention into the body that’s new, people think it’s icky. And they take that feeling of ‘ickiness’ and they...

“People are tired of the nanny state and the growth of government, tired of having our money basically robbed,” said a demonstrator at a tea party rally in 2009. “[We] want to return to constitutional form of government, limited government that allows people to be free and independent.” “I think it’s only a matter of time before these people quit carrying signs and start doing something else,” said Ed McQueen, an Ohio resident who attended a rally in Chicago. “What...