John C. Kennedy IIIIn late September, the Wall Street Journal asked Catholic business leaders for their reaction to Pope Francis’ economic views in an article titled, “For Business, a Papal Pushback.” It ran with the teaser line: “Corporate leaders see merit in pope’s message, if not his broad-brush attack on capitalism.” Journal writer Scott Calvert interviewed Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg for his story. Gregg observed that Pope Francis had characterized market economies as generally exploitative. “He doesn’t seem to...

To celebrate his 63rd birthday last week, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin participated in an exhibition hockey game. This was no ordinary pond hockey, however. It featured a cast of former NHL and professional stars. It also featured a stellar performance from Putin, who netted 7 goals in his team’s 15-10 victory. This is a notable athletic achievement, particularly for a full-time politician who never had the chance to devote his life to sport. It is second only, perhaps, to...

“I am a socialist. That’s why I run a food bank. I don’t believe in markets. I’m not saying I won’t listen, but I am against this.” That was the reaction to one food bank director to the news that four market-friendly economists were going to help Feeding America, the largest network of food banks in the United States, allocate their resources. So what happened when America’s Soviet-style food banks began to embrace free-market economics? This Soviet-style system was hugely...

“Globalization must do more than connect elites and big businesses that have the legal means to expand their markets, create capital, and increase their wealth.” –Hernando de Soto When assessing the causes of the recent boom inglobal prosperity, economists and analysts will point much of theirpraise tothe power of free trade and globalization, and rightly so. But whilethese are important drivers,we mustn’t forget that many people remain disconnected from networks of productivity and “circles of exchange.” Despite wonderful expansions in...

This weekend many churches will observeGlobal Hunger Sunday, and next week (October 16) is World Food Day, a worldwide event designed to increase awareness, understanding and informed, year‐around action to alleviate hunger. Here are five facts you should know about one of the world’s most persistent, but solvable, global problems. 1. Around the world, 842 million people do not have enough of the food they need to live an active, healthy life. 98 percent of the world’s hungry live in...

What gives a dollar bill its value? Mostly that determination is based on how much—or how little—currency is in circulation. But who makes that decision, and how does their choice affect the economy at large? Doug Levinson provides a brief explanation of how the United States Federal Reserve attempts to balance the value of the dollar to prevent inflation or deflation. ...

“How are we to be in the world but not of it?” It’s the question at the center of Acton’s film series, For the Life of the World: Letters to the Exiles, and our response has a profound impact on the shape of our cultural witness. In a lecture atSoutheastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Bruce Ashford frames the same question around our perspectives on nature and grace, asking: “What should be the relationship between God’s saving works and word and all...

What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership? Five years in the making, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a trade agreement between the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, Chile, Brunei, Singapore, and New Zealand. The twelve countries in this prise roughly 40 percent of global G.D.P. and one-third of world trade. The purpose of the agreement, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, is to “enhance trade and investment among the TPP partner countries, promote innovation, economic...

HumanProgress.org has a fascinating chart pares the number of people living in extreme poverty (the orange line) with the number of people not living in extreme poverty (the blue line). If the lines extended further to the left, we’d see them grow closer together. For almost all of human history, most everyone lived in a condition of extreme poverty. The Industrial Revolution helped to lift many people above a subsistence-level standard of living. But the gains appear to have been...

It’s always a pleasure when Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise es to town; he’s an engaging speaker, a thoughtful leader, and really an all around fantastic guy. That’s why it was such a privilege to sit down with him last week in the Acton Studios after he delivered his latest Acton Lecture Series Address last Thursday to record this week’s edition of Radio Free Acton. We talked about the message of conservatism, how it often gets bogged down...