“Anyone claiming that America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction,” said President Obama in last night’s State of the Union address. Technically, the president is correct: The American economy, as a whole, is not in decline. But for most Americans, the state of the American economy is less important than the economy of their state, county, and city. “Americans don’t live in a single economic place,” says Emilia Istrate, the director of research and outreach for the National Association...

Our most recent issue of the Journal of Markets & Morality, vol. 18, no. 2, has now been published online and print issues are in the mail. In addition to our regular slate of articles examining the intersections between faith, freedom, markets, and morality, this issue contains the text of the Theology of Work Consultation symposium at the 2014 conference of the Evangelical Theological Society. The subject was “The Economics of the Theological Vocation.” The entire symposium, as well as...

How did religious freedom develop in America? It didn’t happen the way most of us were taught in school—whether in elementary school or law school. In fact, notes legal scholar Richard Garnett, the “standard story” about religious freedom in Early America is profoundly misleading: In my experience, this “standard story” is familiar to most Americans, whether or not they are historians or constitutional lawyers, though lawyers have probably been more exposed to and influenced by it than most. In this...

The English music artist David Bowie died of cancer last night at the age of 69. Because of his experimentation with fashion and musical styles, Bowie was considered by many to be one of the most innovative pop artists of his era. What is less well-known is that Bowie was also something of a financial innovator. In the mid-1990s, Bowie and a pair of his financial advisers developed a plan to generate present-day cash from the future-day sales of his...

The new Star Wars film embodies that ancient human striving for virtue and a higher spiritual order, says Dylan Pahman in this week’s Acton Commentary. The most recent installment in the Star Wars franchise, Episode VII “The Force Awakens” has blasted box-office records like the Death Star destroying Alderan, so far grossing over $1.7 billion. Clearly, the series has massively broad appeal. Much of the draw seems to be the allure of the Jedi, the mystical guardians of the Star...

Legal historian Sir Matthew Hale has been described as “one of the greatest jurists of the mon law.” Yet during his lifetime (1609-1676), he chose not to publish most of his legal writings, going so far as toprohibitsuch publication in his will. Against these wishes, many manuscripts were copied and circulated by other lawyers after his death. One such work, Of the Law of Nature, was written on multiple hand copies, and now, for the first time ever, it is...

Prior to opening Alabaster Coffee in downtown Williamsport, PA, founder Karl Fisher was in full-time vocational ministry.For many, that sort of transition happens in reverse, but for Fisher, moving from churchplace tomarketplace amplified the scope of his service in new and unexpected ways. “I have already viewed my life as, ‘How are we bringing the Gospel to munity?’” Fisher says. “But now, in many ways, not being a vocational pastor and being in the marketplace, there are definitely aspects of...

When is a religious group not religious enough for the government? When it conflicts with the government’s agenda. After the launch of Obamacare, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had to determine which employers would get a religious exemptions to the their contraceptive mandate. Instead of relying on factors such as an employer’s religious character, they chose instead to rely on tax law. This was a rather peculiar decision since, as Carrie Severino notes, “Throughout the long history...

I have a can’t miss prediction: tonight, when President Obama gives his eighth State of the Union address, he will describe the state of the union as “strong.” (I’ve made this prediction on this blog the past three years, so I’m hoping for a quadfecta of prescience tonight.) Admittedly, predicting that the state of our union will be described as “strong” is about as safe a bet as you can make when es to politics. Over the last hundred years...

My parents should have been jailed for child neglect. At least that’s what would be their fate if I were growing up today. Fortunately for them (and for me), I was a child during the 1970s, a time when kids were (mostly) free to explore the world. At age seven I was allowed to wander a mile in each direction from my home. By age nine I was exploring the underground sewers and drainage system of Wichita Falls, Texas. When...