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Audio: Rev. Sirico on the ‘moral dimension of economic activity’

On Vatican Radio, Acton President and co-founder Rev. Robert A. Sirico discusses his new book Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for the Free Market Economy with reporter Ann Schneible. According to Vatican Radio, the broadcasting station of the Holy See: … Fr Sirico highlighted his objectives in writing this book. Defending the Free Market, he said, was written “with the intention of making accessible economic ideas that I thought were important in general terms; but, in particular, especially...

Interview: Rev. Sirico on ‘A Moral Case for a Free Economy’

Ann Schneible, who interviewed Rev. Robert A. Sirico for Vatican Radio today (see PowerBlog post for audio) also published an interview with the Acton Institute president and co-founder on the Catholic news site, Zenit. Excerpt: ZENIT: In response to those Christians and Catholics who are hesitant about buying into the idea of a free market economy, how can one demonstrate that there are elements to a free market – or Capitalist – economy which patible to Catholic social teaching? Father...

Spartan Austerity and the Fiscal Cliff

Is spartan austerity driving us over the fiscal cliff?The latest step in the budget dance between House Republicans and the White House has to do with where tax increases (or revenue increases in general, depending on what is called what) fit with a deal to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff.” As Napp Nazworth reports, President Obama has apparently delivered an ultimatum: “there would be no agreement to avert the ‘fiscal cliff’ unless tax rates are increased on those making more...

Textbook Bubble-Boys

According to AEI author Mark Perry, there is another education-related “bubble” to worry about: the textbook bubble. He writes that this textbook bubble “continues to inflate at rates that make the U.S. housing bubble seem relatively inconsequential parison.” He continues, “The cost of college textbooks has been rising at almost twice the rate of general CPI inflation for at least the last thirty years.” Given that many students use loan money to purchase books as well as pay for classes,...

Calvin Coolidge, Excessive Taxation, and the Moral Economy

Below is an excerpt from a 1925 Washington Post editorial on President Calvin Coolidge’s Inaugural Address. ments speak directly to the moral arguments Coolidge was making for a free economy. It is the kind of moral thinking about markets and taxes we desperately need today from our national leaders. The es from an excellent book, The High Tide of American Conservatism: Davis, Coolidge, and the 1924 Election by Garland S. Tucker, III. Few persons, probably, have considered economy and taxation...

How Powerball Preys on the Poor

When es to government programs for redistributing e, nothing is quite as malevolently effective as state lotteries. Every year state lotteries redistribute the e of mostly poor Americans (who spend between 4-9% of their e on lottery tickets) to a handful of other citizens—and tothe state’s coffers. A prime example is yesterday’s Powerball jackpot. Two people becameinstant multimillionairesfrom a voluntary transfer of wealth from their fellow citizens. The money came from the563 million tickets that were sold, as the old...

Why Soaking the Rich Won’t Fix the Deficit

In a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll on methods to avoid the “fiscal cliff”, sixty percent of Americans support raising taxes on es more than $250,000 a year (73 percent of Democrats, 63 percent of independents, and 39 percent of Republicans). But how much will that affect the deficit? The federal budget deficit in 2012 was $1.1 trillion. But a number with that many zeros—$1,100,000,000,000—is difficult to grasp, so let’s put it in some perspective This is what $100 million...

RELIGION & LIBERTY

James Madison, Game Theorist

　　At least since Edmund Burke, the right has looked askance at mixing mathematics and politics. The French revolutionaries and philosophes, with their elegantly geometric counties and their 10-hour days and their Year Zeroes, were trying to squeeze the unruly contours of human nature into their godlessly oversimplified concepts. But out of the crooked timber of humanity, many conservatives insist, nothing...

May 23, 2026

The Common Law of Antitrust

　　The Sherman Act (1890) declares “every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several states, or with foreign nations” (15 U.S.C. §1; emphasis added) to be illegal. The statute’s adoption of “restraint of trade” language has misled some commentators—even brilliant ones like the late Harold Demsetz—into thinking that the Sherman...

May 23, 2026

The Age of Trivial Panic

　　America seems to be buffeted by a host of existential crises. For starters, there is the (always) looming specter of climate change, the dramatic loss of an industrial base and uncertain transition to a digital economy, mass migration prompted by warfare and failed states, a dismal demographic forecast, and renewed racial unrest wrought by identity politics. Small wonder that we...

May 23, 2026

How to Endure the Worst of Trials

　　How to Endure the Worst of Trials 　　By Kelly Balarie 　　Bible Reading: 　　“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” – 1 Timothy 6:12 NIV 　　Have you ever noticed that, as a culture, we glorify mountaintop moments but...

May 23, 2026

Tariffs are Taxes

　　For some time, public debate in the United States has questioned whether import tariffs are effective economic policy instruments. Can tariffs address trade imbalances and encourage domestic manufacturing? Is protection the key to securing prosperity? 　　Tariffs have historically played this role in the United States. As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton implemented high tariffs to protect American...

May 23, 2026

Removing the Ivy

　　Many Americans are frustrated by elite private universities. We’ve seen their hostility to diversity of opinion and free speech, politically imbalanced faculty and administrators, galling instances of antisemitism, enormous costs, unfair admissions processes, and more. For such reasons, public approval of higher education had been low and falling for some time, particularly on America’s right. And that was before the...

May 23, 2026

Words Will Never Hurt Me

　　Saturday, February 8, 2025 　　Words Will Never Hurt Me 　　“In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.” (James 3:5 NLT) 　　Have you ever seen a roast? I’m talking about the comedy performance, not the cut of beef. A roast is when several comedians...

May 23, 2026

A Prayer to Embrace Community When its Tempting to Isolate

　　A Prayer to Embrace Community When It's Tempting to Isolate 　　By: Emma Danzey 　　Read or Listen Below: 　　Bible Reading: “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” - Romans...

May 23, 2026

What Happens When a Husband Leads His Wife in Prayer

　　What Happens When a Husband Leads His Wife in Prayer 　　By Gina Smith 　　“I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.” - Psalm 77:1 　　There’s something comforting that happens when my husband prays. Our prayers together often begin after the lights have gone out at the end of the day, right before we fall asleep....

May 23, 2026

Fill Your Prescription

　　Fill Your Prescription 　　This devotional was written by Jim Liebelt 　　Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. —Romans 12:2 　　One day, after not feeling well for some...

May 23, 2026