For decades The Episcopal Church (ECUSA) has faced declining membership (in 1966, the ECUSA had 3,647,297 members; by 2013, the membership was 1,866,758, a decline of 49 percent.) But even when people are leaving the pews someone still has to pay for those pews, as well as the other overhead costs e with running a large organization. Not surprising, the denomination has sought ways to bring in additional revenue. Currently, the ECUSA has two primary sources of e. According to...

It’s not easy to make a living in Libya, one of the world’s poorest nations. However, Libya has one thing going for it: its proximity to Europe. This is making smugglers rich. Quentin Sommerville of the BBC reports his interaction with one of the smugglers. People smugglers don’t take too kindly to enquiries about their business but, after weeks of searching, one agreed to speak to me if he could remain anonymous. He’s grown rich out of the trade. “The...

Birthrates across the globe are going down even as life expectancy increases. The former trend is marked particularly in developed nations. There are lots of reasons for people to have kids or not have kids. Some of these reasons are economic. As I’ve argued previously, “One of mon concerns that drives prospective parents to put off having children is economic, specifically that they won’t have the financial resources to support a growing family. This is a worry that’s been around...

Recently, Rev. Robert Sirico spoke in Chicago. He was asked a question regarding e inequality. His answer was that he didn’t care how much money Bill Gates had, nor did it matter to him the difference between Gates’ e and say, Warren Buffet’s. Nor did he care about the difference between how much wealth Gates has and his own personal e. No, Sirico said, what he cared about were the poor: those people so disconnected from the global marketplace that...

Even children intuitively understand that exchange can and often does mutually benefit those who trade, says Dylan Pahman in this week’s Acton Commentary. “As it turns out, that mutual benefit is often not only material but, at its base, moral as well.” I am unsure how it is that Rita ended up with a peanut butter and M&M sandwich in the first place. Certainly not under our current First Lady’s watch — that’s for sure. Perhaps Rita’s mother let her...

François Michelin (1926-2015), former leader of the the world’s second-largest tire maker, died early today at the age of 88. Michelin was actively involved in the French pany, Group Michelin, until 2002, driving unprecedented growth for pany. His “passion for innovation” and “his promising attention to quality” no doubt caused the pany to thrive. Automotive News reported a statement from current Group Michelin CEO Jean-Dominique Senard: “On behalf of the Group’s employees, I would like to pay special tribute to...

This is a post about that time that President Obama quoted Luther (Martin, the reformer, not the anger translator). Okay, maybe the President didn’t quote the monk with a mallet, but suspend your disbelief for a few more paragraphs at least. Remember the kerfuffle when President Obama uttered those infamous words, “You didn’t build that”? It was, granted, a long time ago (3 years, in fact). But as I argued at the time, there was some truth in the basic...

There was some water cooler talk here in the office the other day as the video of the Baltimore mom went viral. That’s the mother who recognized her son as one of the rioters, and slapped him about the head with some degree of ferocity, then put him in the car and took him home. The mother has since been identified as Toya Graham, who happened upon her son, brick in hand, when she realized school had let out early...

Of all the disheartening scenes of ing out of Baltimore this week, few havebeen asdispiriting as the imageof a church project that was set ablaze. For the past eight years the Southern Baptist Church in East Baltimore has been working on a project that would provide munity center and e housing in the form of 60 senior-citizen apartments. The construction was expected to pleted in December. And last night it all burned to the ground. Those associated with the project...

Seattle has now mandated an increase in minimum wage. The economic ramifications are being felt, especially throughout the restaurant industry. Several Seattle restaurants have done away with tipping, but are adding a mandatory service charge on a customer’s bill. Restaurants often operate on thin margins, so higher wages quickly impact profitability. As opposed to tips, a service charge es part of the restaurant’s overall revenue. The restaurateurs say the service ponent will be used exclusively for employee wages, benefits and...