It’s been said before, but it’s certainly worth saying again. Not only does the free market lead to material wealth, but it reduces violence. On a recent episode of the podcast “Question of the Day,” co-host Stephen Dubner reads a question from a listener: Why haven’t humans evolved as a species away from aggression? Dubner and James Altucher deal with the question in a rather roundabout way. Altucher points out that, really, aggression has dropped for as long as we’ve...

American and Canadian college faculty: Acton is accepting proposals for mini-grants on free market economics. If you’re a professor or you know of a professor teaching in the United States or Canada, be sure to visit the Mini-Grants page. The deadline to turn in proposals is March 31, 2016 and grants can range from $1,000 to $10,000. Acton is accepting applications for proposals in course development and faculty scholarship. Interested in applying, but not sure how to get started? Here...

Today is the 133 birthday of the late Austrian-born economist, Joseph A. Schumpeter. A Finance Minister of Austria and later Harvard professor, Schumpeter coined the term “creative destruction” in explaining how capitalism delivers progress: The opening up of new markets, foreign or domestic, and the organizational development from the craft shop to such concerns as U.S. Steel illustrate the same process of industrial mutation—if I may use that biological term—that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the...

The resurgence of socialism in America, especially among the young, seems to be based on a widespread form of wishful thinking and historical ignorance. Most people who support Bernie Sanders, for instance, do not realize that most of his ideas have been tried already—and discarded as unworkable. Similarly, many Christians who support Sanders don’t realize that for centuries socialism has been considered patible with Christianity.Since the mid-1800s every Catholic pontiff—from Pius IX to Benedict XVI—has forthrightly condemned socialism. Protestants don’t...

On Jan. 27, Acton’s Rome office sponsored a presentation of The International Property Rights Index at the Dominican-run Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. The private seminar was a premier event in Rome for the index’s publisher, introducing data and case studies sampled from 129 industrialized and developing nations. It was attended by some 40 leveraged opinion makers from the ranks of legal, political, academic and religious sectors. Speakers included the university’s dean of social sciences, Fr. Alejandro Crosthwaite, who...

Note: This is the latest entry in the Acton blog series, “What Christians Should Know About Economics.” For other entries inthe series seethis post. The Term:Crony capitalism (sometimes referred to as cronyism or corporatism) What it means:Crony capitalism is a general term for the range of activities in which particular individuals or businesses in a market economy receive government-granted privileges over their customers petitors. Why it Matters: For as long as there have been government officials, there have been economic...

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...

For many evangelicals, 2 Chronicles 7:14 has e a predictable refrain for run-of-the-mill civil religion, supposedly offering thepromise of national blessing in exchange for political purity. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” If the nation returns to golden days of godliness, we are told, blessings...

Conservatives are known for arguing about the ill effects of over-regulation, reminding ushow itstifles innovation, cramps entrepreneurship, and harms small businesses.Where we’re lesseffective is connecting this reality to the more fundamental abuses itwields on human dignity in general and the poor and vulnerable in particular. In a 45-minute talk given at Heritage Action, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska offers a detailed critique of over-regulation in America. Pointing first to the proper scope of regulatory policies, Sasse proceeds to note the...

Contrary to the trite assertion made every year by people who don’t know how to appreciate football, it is not really true that mercials the best thing about the Super Bowl (at least not always). Sure, it may seem that way because the television viewer is mercials than actual game play (in an average game, theratio mercials to playing time is seven to one). The reality, though, is that most of mercials aren’t all that memorable. Only a few stand...