This week, we talk with Acton Research Fellow and Managing Editor of the Journal of Markets and Morality Dylan Pahman on his new book, Foundations of a Free and Virtuous Society. Then on Upstream with Bruce Edward Walker, we catch up on current horror films and television, with discussions on Alien: Covenant, Twin Peaks, and more. 00:00-02:04 Intro 02:05-14:39 Interview with Dylan Pahman 14:40-28:40 Upstream with Bruce Edward Walker 28:41-30:14 Outro ...

Just last week, two New York City subway cars derailed, causing dozens of injuries.The situation did not improve on the next day when repairs caused delays and confusing schedule changes. In response, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency and pledged $1 billion dollars to update the subway system. This is hardly the first problem the subway system has recently faced. “The power failures that have been going on,” Cuomo began in a recent address, “that have...

Like many oth­ers, Pope Francis fails to see the good of profit, says Dylan Pahman in this week’s Acton Commentary. There is a false dichotomy here between profits and poverty. Stock markets pany value, which is related to profit but not the same, and people can idolize that. But what Francis doesn’t see is that without panies go out of business, all of the people who work for them lose their jobs, and poverty grows. As Adam Smith put it,...

EWTN will air a new, one hour special on the life of Michael NovakSunday, July 9 at 1:30 PM & 10:00 PM ET,Tuesday, July 11 at 1:00 PM ET, and Wednesday, July 12 at 4:00 PM. The special features several writers and scholars who were greatly influenced by Novak, including Rev. Robert Sirico and Samuel Gregg. They will run again in two parts during the regular season,at theend of September. ...

During a remarkable speech this morning in Warsaw, President Trump did something that many believed impossible: He spoke clearly – eloquently, even – as he passionately defined and defended transatlantic values. Unlike so many of those who parrot the phrase, he began by describing what those values are. Standing at the site of the Warsaw Uprising, he said that Western civilization is embodied in faith, family, economic vitality, limited government, national sovereignty, intellectual freedom, and the pursuit of excellence. Those...

I’m a middle-aged professor who regularly does a presentation on social justice. As a dedicated believer in the power of free markets, I tend to focus on social justice as distributive justice. In other words, what are the arguments we have about how we slice the economic pie? What kind of a statement is being made by Occupy Wall Street when they posture class conflict as a battle between “the 1%” and “the 99%?” Those are the sorts of things...

Entrepreneurs face a daunting task anywhere in the world. But in the European Union, a unique obstacle blocks the path toincreasing production and furthering human flourishing. “EU funding is closing European businesses,” writes Marcin Rzegocki in a new essay forReligion & Liberty Transatlantic. The EU Structural Funds program redistributes funds from wealthier nations to poorer EU member states. The program isintended to spur economic growth and dynamism by giving entrepreneurs start-up money and expertise. Instead,the good intentions of the EU...

This week the State Department released the 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report, a congressionally mandated report that looks at the governments around the world (including the U.S.) and what they are doing bat trafficking in persons – modern slavery – through the lens of the 3P paradigm of prevention, protection, and prosecution. “Human trafficking is one of the most tragic human rights issues of our time. It splinters families, distorts global markets, undermines the rule of law, and spurs other...

As the United States prepares to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, too many American workers are on a permanent vacation. Seven million American men in their prime working years are not working nor actively seeking work, something that inflicts a multitude of harms upon them and society as a whole. Yet a European model may open the door for them to return, or enter, the ranks of productive society. One of the few bright spotsof President Trump’s March 17...

Note: This is the post #23 in a weekly series of explanatory posts on the officials and agencies included in the President’s Cabinet. See the series introductionhere. Cabinet position:Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) (Note: This office became a cabinet-level position in February 2017.) Department: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Current Director:Mike Pompeo Department Mission:“Preempt threats and further U.S. national security objectives by collecting intelligence that matters, producing objective all-source analysis, conducting effective covert action as directed by the President,...