What economic issues do America’s two main political parties agree on? The short answer: not much. But the New York Time‘s Annie Lowrey identifies eight areas of overlap: 1. Tax simplification 2. Regulatory simplification 3. Fannie and Freddie 4. Avoiding the fiscal cliff 5. Son of Debt Ceiling 6. Drill, baby, drill 7. Start-ups 8. Iran sanctions What is interesting about the list is that except for the items that are overly obvious (e.g., #4 could be restated as “Avoid...

A recent national Pew Research Center survey has found conflicting opinions regarding many Americans’ view of the rich: As Republicans gather for their national convention in Tampa to nominate a presidential candidate known, in part, as a wealthy businessman, a new nationwide Pew Research Center survey finds that many Americans believe the rich are different than other people. They are viewed as more intelligent and more hardworking but also greedier and less honest. Nearly six-in-ten survey respondents (58%) also say...

In his debut column at Forbes, Fr. Robert Sirico discusses how the collapse of European economies has exposed the false hope of the welfare state: [T]he great lie at the heart of the passing welfare state, with its empty promises of eternal security and freedom from want. The welfare state and its advocates would have us believe that they have a political solution for a world where scarcity and human brokenness still hold sway. This false hope is what Pope...

The idea that being a monastic is godly while being a businessperson is worldly reflects a widely held belief among Christians, says James R. Rodgers. But the pursuit of a vocation in business doesn’t necessarily means the embrace of a lesser form of the Christian life: While I would be loath to argue that the pursuit of business is superior to the pursuit of monasticism, I nonetheless would insist that business vocations do not necessarily entail a lesser form of...

The subtitle of Lester DeKoster’s little classic, Work: The Meaning of Your Life–A Christian Perspective, can be a bit off-putting. Is work really the meaning of your life? On the one hand, when we understand DeKoster’s definition of work, we might be a bit more amenable to the suggestion. DeKoster says that work is essentially our “service of others.” This means that “work” as such is not strictly defined as waged labor outside the home, for instance. But there is...

As the Presidential debates draw near, there is one question that tops my wish list of questions that should (but won’t be) asked of the candidates: What e range constitutes “middle class”? This undefined group of citizens seems to be a favorite of politicians on both ends of the political spectrum. Reagan and Bush cut their taxes. Clinton too. And Obama promised not to raise their taxes. But who are these people? Ask the janitor sweeping pany’s floors and he’ll...

Over several weeks we have been talking about the skills we need to develop as we are On Call in Culture; a Kingdom-focused memory, storytelling (which involves observation and reflection), and vulnerability. Each one plays an important part of us making an impact on our culture as God works through us daily. We have also provided resources to help you develop each skill. In “My Mind in God’s Hands” we thought about focusing our minds on Kingdom values so our...

Conference: “Global Commodities: The Material Culture of Early Modern Connections, 1400-1800” Global History and Culture Centre – University of Warwick – 12-14 December 2012. This International conference held at the Global History and Culture Centre of the University of Warwick seeks to explore how our understanding of early modern global connections changes if we consider the role material culture played in shaping such connections. In what ways did material objects participate in the development of the multiple processes often referred...

Messianic claims and expectations about politicians are problematic whether e from the left or from the right, says Ray Nothstine. In his speech at the John Locke Foundation, Nothstine discusses the problems associated with political messianism in American politics. Click here to watch a video of the entire speech. ...

Check out this video, which is interesting on a number of levels (HT: James R. Otteson): Hazony points to some really important ideas in this short video. In many ways the culture war, so to speak, es down to a clash of worldviews about what work is and ought to be. For a narrative that sets the problem up the same way, but favors the “Leavers” over the “Takers,” see the work of Daniel Quinn, particularly his novel Ishmael. I’m...