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...

Peter Augustine Lawler died last week at the age of 65. Lawler, who referred to himself as a “postmodern conservative”, was a distinguished political philosopher and public intellectual who frequently wrote about the role of virtue in the modern (or postmodern) world. In honor of his passing, here are six quotes by Lawler on virtue: On virtue and knowing: “Virtue is the action that flows from knowing: 1. Who we are. 2. What we’re supposed to do. Doing, as Aristotle...

An illustration of the Peter Principle. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain. Today at Public Discourse, I argue that in addition to idealism and self-interest, petence needs to be recognized as a more important factor in politics: [U]nless we add petence as a category of analysis, we will tend to view every victory for our own team as a triumph of justice or freedom or equality (idealism), and every failure the result of deep and convoluted corruption (self-interest). This is not...

Last week, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg endorsed the idea of a universal basic e during mencement address at Harvard University. Samuel Gregg, Acton Institute Director of Research, joined host Drew Mariani on Relevant Radio yesterday to discuss the arguments for and against the idea, and whether it would even work as advertised. You can listen to the interview via the audio player below. ...

A significant fact lies buried inside MEP Richard Sulik’s report on how subsidiarity could save the European Union: EU programs are reinforcing the very Communist-era behaviors they are intended to eradicate. Taxpayer-funded grants from the European Union are fueling cronyism and corruption, especially in its newest and most vulnerable member states. EU funds inflict the worst corrupting of the political process in former Communist countries, Sulik, an MEP from Slovakia, writes: Despite the good intention, European funds have e the...

Boys’ Latin students hard at work. Black and Latino young men from munities show statistically low high school graduation and attendance rates. One group of young men, however, is proving that that academic underperformance doesn’t have to be the norm. These e from a poor black neighborhood, but they’ve been taught a special skills most American students lack: learning the Latin language. They’re students at Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia Charter School where they’re required to study a language many would...

KangZeLiu, Globalization, CC BY-SA 4.0 Acton’s Director of Research, Samuel Gregg recently spoke on the Library of Law and Liberty’s podcast Liberty Law Talk to answer the question, “Is globalization in retreat?” You can listen to the discussion here. For more from Acton on globalization, see other PowerBlog posts. ...

In Europe, the answer to one bad economic policy seems to be another bad economic policy. However, if such failures intersect in the right way, the problem goes from being a fiscal to a moral problem. Take the issue of“eurobonds,”a concept wholeheartedly supported by newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron. Think of eurobondsas the redistribution of debt. The mechanism essentiallypools the collective debt of itsremaining 27 members at the EU level. Eurobondswould allow nations like Greece to borrow more money...

“If school choice effectively functions as a standing critique of public education as well as being a potential solution to problems evident in the current system,” asks Hunter Baker in this week’s Acton Commentary, “how can public school advocates ever approve of an appointee like Betsy DeVos?” That question leads to others. What is the mission of the Department of Education? And if that mission is defined as advancing public education in the United States in a particular way, then...

Almost 90 years have passed since the beginning of the Great Depression and yet most of us are still unclear on what caused America’s greatest economic collapse. The causes and precursors plex, of course, but there are a few factors that we should know about. In this brief video, economist Alex Tabbarok provides one of the best overviews of what exactly occurred during this troubling period in economic history. (If you find the pace of the videos too slow, I’d...