Speaking of Thomas Piketty, here’s a very helpful and revealing interview with Matthew Yglesias, “Thomas Piketty doesn’t hate capitalism: He just wants to fix it.” (HT: PEG) A few highlights with ment: On the need for a historical perspective in economics: Thomas Piketty: … It’s not only economists’ fault. Historians and sociologists are too often are leaving the study of economic issues to economists. Sometimes nobody does it. This is a really important point. We need not only economic analysis...

Istituto Acton in Rome has released the following video statement from Kishore Jayabalan on the persecution of Christians worldwide and threats to religious freedom, previewing the ‘Faith, State, and the Economy: Perspectives from East and West’ conference happening next week. ...

“What is our salvation actually for?” It’s a question that many Christians neglect to ask or seriously consider, and even for those of us who do, we tend toward answers far too focused on ourselves — our personal well-being, piety, or pathway to heaven. But what if salvation isn’t just about us? What if it’s about something deeper, wider, and richer? This is the question at the center of For the Life of the World: Letters to the Exiles, a...

As we approach our ing April 29th Conference in Rome “Faith, State, and the Economy: Perspectives from East and West“, Acton’s Research Director, Samuel Gregg shares his insights on the relationship between religious and economic liberty and the threats society now faces. Gregg also discusses where he thinks places like Europe and America are heading, as well as what some of the guest speakers will talk about during the conference. PowerBlog: Why is the Acton Institute’s ingApril 29thConference in Rome...

Aleteia’s Mirko Testa recently interviewed Samuel Gregg about the state’s role in defending religious liberty, the appropriate response of the Church to the growing welfare state, cronyism, and the ing conference hosted by the Istituto Acton: ‘Faith, State, and the Economy: Perspectives from East and West.’ What’s John Paul II’s legacy on the connection between limited government, religious liberty, and economic liberty? [Gregg:] When you live much of your life under Communism, it is bound to accentuate your appreciation of...

Religious shareholder activism continues its war on affordable, domestically produced energy in a campaign that can only be described as unholy. The first casualties of this war are the nation’s 10.5 million job seekers, the millions more who have quit looking for work, and the poor. The 2014 proxy resolution season finds the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia joining other shareholders to force a May 2014 vote at Chevron Corp., which would require pany to report hydraulic fracturing (aka...

From the fiscal to the familial, conservatives have the right answers, says Kevin D. Williamson: The conservative hesitancy to put the issue of poverty at the center of our domestic economic agenda, rather than tax rates or middle-class jobs, is misguided — politically as well as substantively. Any analysis of the so-called War on Poverty, officially at the half-century mark this year, will find that the numbers are very strongly on the side of the conservative critique of the welfare...

Poor us. We women are being told we aren’t getting equal pay, and now we’re apparently lagging in confidence. The Atlantic recently published “The Confidence Gap,” saying we not only lack confidence, but it’s an “acute lack of confidence.” We “feel like an imposter” as we do our jobs, we can’t bring ourselves to ask for a raise, we are forever underestimating ourselves. As my incredibly confident mother would say, “Horse feathers.” Who are these women? Where are these women?...

Politicians e cheap. To buy one’s influence you generally need deep pockets, which is why crony capitalism tends to be the domain of “big business.” But a recent article in Slate by California restaurateur Jay Porter shows that some small business owners dream of being cronies too. Cronyism occurs when an individual or organization colludes with government officials to create legislation or regulations that give them forced benefits they could not have otherwise obtained voluntarily. Those e at the expense...

Most people don’t put “Catholic philosophy” and “ecology” in the same thought, but Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s writing prove that the Church has much to say about ecology. In the newly published The Garden of God: Toward a Human Ecology, the former pope’s teachings about human life, the environment and physical and social sciences are engagingly presented. According to William L. Patenaude atThe Catholic World Report: The timing of this book is particularly good. Of late, environmental scientists are escalating...