Overthe past few decades, economist Thomas Sowell, age 86, has been one of the most effective, yet under-appreciated, proponents of conservative and libertarian economic thought. He is also one of our most powerful critics of the often destructive and harmful effects of liberal economic policies. Today he announced he’s retiring from writing his syndicated column. In honor of his retirement, here are six quotes by Sowell: On government spending: “Elections should be held on April 16th—the day after we pay...

In an attempt to cut down on the number of government regulations, president-elect Trump has proposed a “one-in, two-out” rule—for every new regulation implemented, two old regulation must be eliminated. This is similar to the “one-in, three out” rule that was adopted by the government of United Kingdom. While this is a significant step toward reducing the ever-expanding number of total regulations, would it be enough to actually reduce the regulatory burden on Americans? Philip K. Howard argues that it...

It has been just over a week since a suicide bomber entered the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in the Coptic Orthodox plex in Cairo, killing himself and making martyrs of 27 Egyptian Christians. They were mostly women and children attending the Sunday morning service. Two months before, the Anglican Archbishop Mouneer Anis of Egypt, addressing a conference in Cairo, had called for Christians to be “ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of Christ.” This has certainly...

Although Americans have lost the notion altogether, British tradition still remembers that Christmas is a season that begins, rather than ends, on December 25. In addition to Christmas, many businesses close their doors on December 26 in observance of Boxing Day. Over the years, the holiday has also e the UK’s third-largest shopping day, generating £3.74 billion last year. Since shoppers need workers to serve them, more retailers have remained open each year. This spurred more than 200,000 Brits to...

What was the greatest invention of the industrial revolution? Hans Rosling makes the case for the washing machine. Rosling explains how the productivity gains of the washing machine—and similar labor-saving devices—lead to increases in education and economic growth in the developing world. ...

Since 2013 when the Argentine prelate Jorge Bergoglio officially became the head of the Catholic Church, he has emerged as a key figure in the progressive movement. Even though Pope Francis does not claim to be a part of any political movement, it is clear that he is representative of the views that many leftists hold. With his emergence e much criticism from Catholics who hold opposing views on issues such as environmentalism and the market economy. Acton Institute Director...

In this week’s Acton Commentary I examine the foundations of what is today identified as the “preferential option for the poor” in writings that appeared 125 years ago, Pope Leo’sRerum Novarum and Abraham Kuyper’s “The Social Question and the Christian Religion.” These two texts have appeared in an anniversary volume,Makers of Modern Christian Social Thought: Leo XIII and Abraham Kuyper on the Social Question, now available from the Acton Book Shop. In the introduction to that volume, I touch on...

“Succumbing to despair is by definition never a winning strategy, which is why the story of Giorgio Vasari’s painting, ‘The Last Supper,’ resonated so strongly with me when I read it had been successfully restored,” says Rev. Robert A. Sirico in this week’s Acton Commentary. I’ve loved Vasari since discovering his “Lives of the Artists” when I was in college, and the restoration of his work (not to be confused with the more famous Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci)...

Christmas is the most widely observed cultural holiday in the world. Here are five factsyou should know about the memoration of the birth of Jesus: 1. No one knows what day or month Jesus was born (though some scholars speculate that it was in September). The earliest evidence for the observance of December 25 as the birthday of Christappears in the Philocalian posed in Rome in 336. 2. Despite the impression given by many nativity plays and Christmas carols, the...

Earlier today I mentioned that economist Thomas Sowell was retiring from writing his syndicated column. For decades Sowell, age 86, has been one of the leading thinkers in the libertarian and conservative circles. But what is less known is the intellectual journey he took from being an advocate of socialism to a champion of free markets. This past summer I wrote an article for The Stream examining on how Sowell thought his way into Marxism, then back out again into...