At last year’s Acton University, a few Austrian attendees made an interesting youtube video celebrating their rediscovery of the huge and obvious contributions Austria has made to free-market economics. But what about the countries that don’t have an entire school of economic thought named after them? My conversations with international participants at this year’s conference underscored two themes over and over again. First, that even the unlikeliest countries have some philosophical heritage undergirding capitalist thought. Second, that AU attracts the...

Today’s lectures from Acton University 2007 (updated as more audio es available): Natural Law and Protestant Public Theology: Dr. Stephen GrabillEnemies of the Inner City: John NunesMoral Objections to the Free Market: John SchneiderPrivate Property: Moral and Economic Foundations: Michael MillerThe Bad News about the Prosperity Gospel: Rev. John Nunes Random AU Pic of the Day I just made Kara Eagle’s Supergirl socks famous. ...

Acton PowerBlogger John H. Armstrong is with us this week in Grand Rapids for Acton University. He is founder and director of ACT 3, a ministry aimed at “encouraging the church, through its leadership, to pursue doctrinal and ethical reformation and to foster spiritual awakening.” Here’s his post on Wednesday’s conference activities: The relationship between integrity, virtue and vision is not often developed in the business world. Yesterday the Acton University experience afforded me a unique opportunity to understand better...

Sometimes e across a story that’s so powerful that it DEMANDS to be posted. This is one such story: “Usually, if a turd gets into the Senate, it’s because he or she was elected,” Emily Heil reports for Roll Call. “But on Wednesday, several large piles of actual, nonmetaphorical ‘No. 2’ found their way into the Capitol, and the source isn’t yet clear.” It was the first sentence that got me. ...

Kris Mauren (far right) and African guests get ready to visit GFS. Acton University is now well underway, and on Wednesday a group of seven African attendees joined Kris Mauren on a visit to Gordon Food Service’s Grand Rapids headquarters for an up-close look at ethical capitalism. Mauren called it a great opportunity for people from countries with barren and corrupt markets to see an efficient, principled business for themselves. “The management of GFS also has a strong concern for...

That religion can be big business is not news to anyone. But this Zenit analysis by Fr. John Flynn is an especially good synopsis of the current state and size of the “Christianity market” in the United States. On a roughly related note, I’ve been meaning to mention the creation of a new blog on faith and business: the Business as Mission Network blog run by Justin Forman. It tracks news in the “business as mission” movement, which envisions businesses,...

Today’s lectures from Acton University 2007 (updated as more audio es available): Protestantism and Natural Law: Dr. Stephen GrabillTheology and History of Globalization: Dr. Samuel GreggThe Catholic Social Encyclical Tradition: Kishore JayalabanKnowing Good Works: Guidelines for Effective Compassion: Dr. Fred DeJongThe Political Economy of Globalization: Michael MillerSubsidiarity and Effective Private Charity: Ismael HernandezEconomics and Human Action: Jeff TuckerCatholic Social Teaching: Basic Principles: Stephen Haessler ...

Acton University 2007 came to a close this evening with another stirring address by Rev. Robert Sirico which capped a great week in Grand Rapids for all involved. It’s getting late and I can’t hope to top what Father Robert had to say this evening, so I’ll refer all of you to the audio link below. It’s always a relief when e to the end of what is without a doubt the busiest week of the year for Acton’s Grand...

Lawrence Lessig, a legal scholar and high-profile advocate of copyright reform, has decided to “shift my academic work, and soon, my activism, away from the issues that have consumed me for the last 10 years, towards a new set of issues.” His new task? “‘Corruption’ as I’ve defined it elsewhere will be the focus of my work. For at least the next 10 years, it is the problem I will try to help solve.” Just how does Lessig define “corruption”?...

Here is an index of posts from last week’s Acton University: “What is Man?” Why the Answer Profoundly Matters (June 13)Integrity, Virtue and Vision in the World of Business (June 14)More Sights and Sounds at Acton University (June 15)Protestantism and Natural Law Theory (June 15)Economic Myths and Emergent Christian Thought (June 16) ...