“God somehow demands of us so much more than this transactional nature. It is really about the gift that we’ve been given, and the only response we can give back is with extravagance, with gratuitous beauty.” –Makoto Fujimura (Episode 6,For the Life of the World) We live in a society that has grown increasingly transactional in its way of thinking. Everything we spend or steward — time, money, relationships — must secure a personal reward or return. Even when we...

The duty to respect individual property rights has been a part of the law since the Decalogue included mandment, “Thou Shalt Not Steal.” But for just as long, governments have included an exception for the state in the form of “eminent domain.” The term eminent domainwas taken from the legal treatise by the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius in 1625, which used the term dominium eminens (Latin for supreme lordship) and described the power as follows: … The property of subjects...

Yesterday, Princeton economist Angus Deaton won the Nobel prize in economic sciences for his work on “analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare.” In honor of this recognition, here are six quotes by Deaton on poverty: On poverty measurements: “Poverty lines are as much political as scientific constructions.” On measuring global poverty: “Measuring poverty at the local level is straightforward, at the national level it is hard but manageable, but at the level of the world as a whole it is...

To celebrate his 63rd birthday last week, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin participated in an exhibition hockey game. This was no ordinary pond hockey, however. It featured a cast of former NHL and professional stars. It also featured a stellar performance from Putin, who netted 7 goals in his team’s 15-10 victory. This is a notable athletic achievement, particularly for a full-time politician who never had the chance to devote his life to sport. It is second only, perhaps, to...

John C. Kennedy IIIIn late September, the Wall Street Journal asked Catholic business leaders for their reaction to Pope Francis’ economic views in an article titled, “For Business, a Papal Pushback.” It ran with the teaser line: “Corporate leaders see merit in pope’s message, if not his broad-brush attack on capitalism.” Journal writer Scott Calvert interviewed Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg for his story. Gregg observed that Pope Francis had characterized market economies as generally exploitative. “He doesn’t seem to...

The Manhattan Institute Centers’s “Proxy Monitor Season Wrap-Up” is hot off the press, and the findings presented by author James R. Copland, are remarkable. Since 2011, MIC has monitored shareholder activism, which it describes as efforts “in which investors attempt to influence corporate management through the shareholder-proposal process.” This year’s wrap-up includes MIC-researched data from corporations’ annual meetings held by the end of June 2015. By that time, “216 of the 250 largest panies by revenues” pleted their meetings, which...

The Fall 2016 Acton Lecture Series continued on October 1st with an address by American Enterprise Institute President Arthur Brooks, who spoke on the topic of his latest book,The Conservative Heart: How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous America. Conservatives are often vexed by the fact that liberal policies and their supporters are viewed by the public as passionate to the poor even thougha great deal of evidence exists to show thatthat liberal “solutions” to any number of...

While it has been pointed out repeatedly by your writer and others in this space that Pope Francis’ Laudato Si contains much to mend it for the passion and depth of spirituality contained within, there remains much that is problematic. For example, there’s this: At the same time we can note the rise of a false or superficial ecology which placency and a cheerful recklessness. As often occurs in periods of deep crisis which require bold decisions, we are tempted...

Earlier today the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that theNobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to economist Angus Deaton. Here are five facts about Deaton and his work: 1.Angus Deaton, aged 69, is a dual British and American citizen. In Britain he taught CambridgeUniversityand the UniversityofBristol. In America he is the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Economics Department at Princeton University....

What gives a dollar bill its value? Mostly that determination is based on how much—or how little—currency is in circulation. But who makes that decision, and how does their choice affect the economy at large? Doug Levinson provides a brief explanation of how the United States Federal Reserve attempts to balance the value of the dollar to prevent inflation or deflation. ...