Gary Becker and Richard Posner examine the increasing gap between the rich and poor in terms of wealth and e. This gap was most recently highlighted in a report that “the richest 2% of adults in the world own more than half of global household wealth,” and the richest 1% hold 40% of wealth. The report was issued by the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (PDF). Becker seems to accept that wealth inequality is...

Following up on the story from a couple months back about restrictions to bankruptcy filings prohibiting filers from budgeting for tithing, and in the midst of the controversy surrounding Rick Warren’s invitation to Sen. Barack Obama to appear at a Saddleback Church event, es both houses of Congress have passed the “Obama-Hatch Tithing Bill.” The bill would “protect an individual’s right to continue reasonable charitable contributions, including religious tithing, during the course of consumer bankruptcy. The measure passed the United...

As I’ve noted previously, it is probably best for the cause of limited government that political power be divided rather than in the hands of a single party, no matter which party. This AP story offers evidence in support of that claim from early action by the newly Democratic Congress. At the same time, a close reading of the article indicates that congressional Democrats’ cutting of Republican pork may not result in any meaningful or lasting scaling back of needless...

Geoffrey Norman at NRO offers a delightfully sarcastic discussion of the move by a couple of Michigan state senators to use the BCS title game controversy as an opportunity for political grandstanding. “Keep your hands off our football,” is Norman’s message to government. In point of fact, however, there is a long history of government intervention in American sports. An early and famous example is the Supreme Court’s 1922 decision granting Major League Baseball an exemption from antitrust laws. The...

A debate about the future of energy policy is being held over at sp!ked, sponsored by Research Councils UK. From their notice: THE FUTURE OF ENERGY Expanding supply or managing demand? In the opening articles, mentators address the question from different viewpoints. ADAM VAUGHAN, online editor, New Consumer magazine argues that saving energy is the way forward: ‘By taking a number of simple steps, consumers can save energy and money – and help save the planet.’ JOE KAPLINSKY, science writer,...

A genuinely thorny pastoral issue that often arose in the course of my counseling was the question of two-career marriages. What should a couple do if the wife wanted/needed to work outside the home when children were present, especially when the children were young? Because I served suburban churches (from 1972-1992) some of my congregants needed to be e families just to survive. Others did not but made a choice to pursue two careers anyway. The scenario always varies from...

I can’t offer a wholesale endorsement, but it’s a critique worth a hearing…give it a watch. See here for Acton’s answer to the One Campaign. HT: eucharism ...

In a recent open letter to immigrants to the United States, Jennifer Roback Morse expands on the words of Emma Lazarus engraved at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Lazarus wrote: “Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free.” Morse goes one step further, asking immigrants to give their hearts as well. What Morse explains is that America values immigrants. In fact, almost all Americans are descended from immigrants. But a trend that Morse...

“Christian consumption has gone far beyond the book as millions use their buying power to reinforce their faith and mitment to the munity,” reads an article in the current edition of USAToday (HT: Zondervan>To the Point) According to the piece, “Nearly 12% of Americans spend more than $50 a month on religious products, and another 11% spend $25 to $29, according to a national survey of 1,721 adults by Baylor University, out in September.” There has been a great deal...

As noted at WorldMagBlog (among many other places), the ing Democratic majority in Congress is suspending the process of earmarking, at least temporarily. Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., and Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., the ing chairmen of the House and Senate mittees, have pledged that “there will be no congressional earmarks” in the ing budget. Earmarks will be available again in the 2008 budget cycle, after “reforms of the earmarking process are put in place.” There’s a lot of smoke right...