In Leonard Read’s famous essay,“I, Pencil,”he marvels over the cooperation and collaboration involved in the assemblyof a simple pencil — plex coordination among global creators that is, quite miraculously,uncoordinated. Read’s lesson is simple: Rather than try to stifle or control these creative energies, we ought to “organize society to act in harmony with this lesson,” permitting “these creative know-hows to freely flow.” In doing so, we will see similar stories manifest, fostering further evidence fora faith “as practical as the...

“Tax policies and tax levies are an unavoidable part of civilized life,” says Robert G. Kennedy in this week’s Acton Commentary. “The social tradition of the Church emphasizes the duty of citizens to support their government as well as the duties of civil authorities to govern wisely and to respect the ownership rights of individuals and families.” Kennedy outlines five things the tradition Catholic social teaching teaches us about taxation and four things it does not. What the Tradition teaches:...

“For Adam Smith, crony capitalism fails on two grounds,” says Lauren Brubaker. “It is unjust, favoring a few at the expense of the many, and it is destructive of the desired end of political economy—economic growth.” Brubaker says Smith’s writings can help us properly frame the problems of crony capitalism, understand the causes, and formulate solutions for preventing or mitigating the corruption of free markets: For Smith, the tendencies to cronyism, which are anchored in human nature, can be tempered...

In his latest column for Forbes, Alejandro Chafuen, the managing director of Acton’s international activities, has a ranking of free-market think tanks measured by social media impact, and discussesGresham’s Law as it relates to social media: The current discussions about the manipulation of social media for political purposes and mercial interests of social-media giants has raised important questions about its impact and deserves much further analysis. In his surprising announcement that he was going to retire in 16 months, Arthur...

“An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind” is a claim frequently attributed to Mohandas Gandhi. But while the quote might fit the attitude of a non-violent civil rights leader, it misses how the concept of “eye for an eye” changed the world for the better. The phrase “eye for an eye” is taken from passages in the Old Testament that refer to what is often called thelex talionis, the “law of retaliation.” While it sounds harsh, it...

memoratesthecrucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary, the most significantly tragic event in human history. But as pastorS.M. Lockridge(1913-2000) reminds us in this brief Easter meditation, the darkness of this historical Friday pales parison to the light es on Sunday morning. It’s Friday Jesus is praying Peter’s a sleeping Judas is betraying But in’ It’s Friday Pilate’s struggling The council is conspiring The crowd is vilifying They don’t even know That in’ It’s Friday The disciples are running Like...

Today marks the 50thanniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Here are five facts you should know about the killing of the civil rights leader in Memphis, Tennessee. 1. The killing of King in 1968 was the second attempt on his life. A decade before he was assassinated, King was nearly stabbed to death in Harlem when amentally ill African-American womanwho believed he was conspiring against her munists, stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener. He...

On this episode of Radio Free Acton, Acton’s Drew McGinnis and Dan Hugger discuss the book Communism & Christian Faith with Pavel Hanes, professor in the department of theology at Matej Bel University in Slovakia. Communism & Christian Faith was written by Lester DeKoster at the height of the Cold War and is newly reissued in the Acton bookshop. Then we have an Econ Quiz segment on trade deficits: what are they and how are they measured? Finally, on the...

As protestors continue to boldly decry “corporate greed” with little definition or discernment, progressive policymakers are just as quick to push a range of wage controls and market manipulations to mitigate the supposed vices of free and open exchange. The painful irony, of course, is that the victims of such policies are not the fat-cat cronyists at the top, but the scrappy challengers at the bottom. We’ve seen it with the recent embrace of the $15 minimum wage, which continues...

During the Cold War, the U.S. military would conduct wargaming simulations in which some units would act as the United States (the blue team) and some would pretend to be Soviet troops (the red team). Through such exercises the military discover the weak points in their strategy before they were exposed bat situations. Over the years, the term “red teaming” came to be used to describe this practice of viewing a problem from an adversary petitor’s perspective. The military and...