Today, Fernando Coronel, a law student at the Catholic University of Guayaquil, Ecuador, looks at Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa’s new restrictions on trade and the deeper problems he is creating through an alliance with other Latin American leaders advancing “21st Century Socialism.” Coronel observes that “the Correas of the world don’t really trust their fellow human beings to make the correct decisions when they are investing or spending their money.” Read mentary at the Acton Institute Website and share ments...

“The Obama administration is looking to draw sharper lines on church-state interaction and to eliminate the ability of faith-based groups to hire only those who believe as they do,” warns Hunter Baker. Maybe one way to protect the mission of faith-based social service groups, and avoid a Culture Wars clash with the new administration, is to examine what we mean by “secular.” Read mentary at the Acton website and share your thoughts in the space below. ...

In the next issue of Religion & Liberty, we are featuring an interview with South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. Sanford has made national headlines for his principled opposition to all bailout and stimulus ing out of Washington. He was elected South Carolina’s governor in 2002 and re-elected in 2006, ing only the third two-term governor in modern state history. In 2008, Sanford was also named Chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Before ing governor, Sanford served six years in the...

A wave of financial protectionism is embedded in much of the stimulus legislation and bailout measures that have been adopted in Europe and America in recent weeks. One result of these ill-advised moves will be a dramatic reduction in private capital flows to emerging markets in 2009. “Among the biggest losers will be Latin American nations,” warns Samuel Gregg in mentary. Read mentary at the Acton website ment on it here. ...

The latest in the Birth of Freedom Video Shorts Series, this new video from Acton Media asks the question, “Was Abraham Lincoln a reluctant abolitionist?” William B. Allen, Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University gives the answer, discussing Lincoln’s views on human rights and equality.This is the eleventh short in the series. To view the other ten videos, trailers, extended resources, or to purchase the full documentary, visit . ...

From the scuffle over “Buy American” provisions in the most recent federal stimulus package, to concerns about declining exports in countries like China, to high-profile meetings of politicians and economists, it seems like anti-globalization sentiment is on the rise. Advocates of isolationism, protectionism, and localism have decried the increasingly integrated global economy for years. But the sharpness of criticisms of globalization has sharpened in the context of the global economic downturn. Reflecting on the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier...

The National Catholic Register’s Tom McFeely interviewed Sam Gregg, director of research at Acton, about President Barack Obama’s $75-billion plan to help mortgage holders at risk of default. McFeely: What is your overall assessment of President Obama’s mortgage relief plan? Is it likely to work? Sam Gregg: Without question, thousands are suffering as mortgage defaults rise across America. Their plight should not be trivialized. That said, I am deeply skeptical of the mortgage relief plan. I believe that it will...

In response to the question, “What are the moral lessons of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)?” Does the ARRA mark the dawn of a new era of government accountability, from a government “of the people, by the people, for the people”? President Obama seems to think so. He says as much in a video statement tied to the launch of Recovery.gov, “a website that lets you, the taxpayer, figure out where the money from the American Recovery and...

It’s a truism that progressive Christians emphasize the pervasiveness of structural or institutional evil, often at the expense of individual or personal sin. The structures of the world are broken and they, not individuals, are responsible for the enduring injustices in the world. But e this perspective is never (or rarely) aimed at the bureaucracy of government? Sure, when the government does something political progressives don’t like, they’re quick to condemn the institution itself. But why isn’t the broken bureaucracy...

Thanks to Clear Channel Radio, I was able to attend Dave Ramsey’s event in Grand Rapids last night. I used to listen to Ramsey on the radio quite a bit as a seminary student in Kentucky and I was always impressed by how much he was inspiring American families to live within their means and e better financial stewards of their resources and e. His own personal faith testimony is very real and inspiring and that brings me to another...