Later today we’re having a book launch discussion about the latest volume in the Abraham Kuyper Collected Works in Public Theology, On Islam. This book is a selection from a travel narrative Kuyper published after he voyaged around the Mediterranean Sea in 1905-1906. For those who are unable to join us in Grand Rapids, the event will be available via a live stream and will also be archived for viewing later. For those interested in learning more about Kuyper’s trip,...

Oxfam released its internal report on the Haiti scandal Monday, exposing that the controversy enveloping the agency was deeper and more expansive than previously known. In addition to the details already made public, the report states that allegations of fraud, negligence, sexual harassment, nepotism, and accessing pornography on an puter led to four firings and three resignations. The figure at the center of the controversy, Haitian country director Roland van Hauwermeiren, was allowed to make a “phased and dignified exit,”...

In a tragic irony, Oxfam has demonstrated the injustice of a certain kind of inequality. The international charity, which is known for its annual report on e inequality, is mired in scandal involving sexual coercion by its employees, possible pedophilia, and lying to a government agency in order to maintain taxpayer funding. While responding to the 2010 Haitian earthquake, relief workers engaged prostitutes in living quarters furnished by Oxfam, paid for with charitable donations (and tax dollars). Some have alleged...

On this episode of Radio Free Acton, Paul Bonicelli, director of programs and education at Acton, and Trey Dimsdale, director of program outreach at Acton, speak with Greg Forster, director of the Oikonomia Network and visiting assistant professor of faith and culture at Trinity International University, on the legacy and modern relevance of Whittaker Chambers and his landmark book,Witness. Then, Dave Hebert, professor of economics at Aquinas college, joins us on the Econ Quiz segment to talkabout e inequality. Finally,...

“The diversity of American conservatism would astound those pundits, politicians, and critics who believe conservatism is a rigid ideology aimed at privileging the wealthy (and the white),” says Gregory L. Schneider in this week’s Acton Commentary. Peter Kolozi’s new bookConservatives Against Capitalism: From the Industrial Revolution to Globalizationshowcases a conservatism fortable with free-market capitalism — which adherents see as revolutionary and disruptive of tradition — and traces its origins from the antebellum South, to the election of Donald Trump, profiling...

This week, I was one of menters consulted in Nicholas Wolfram Smith’s article “FCC Repeal of Net Neutrality Leads to Lively Fight” for the National Catholic Register. I think Smith did a fine job conveying my primary concern: But according to Dylan Pahman, a researcher and managing editor of Acton Institute’s Journal of Markets & Morality, one of the problems with the 2015 net neutrality regulations was that it gave the government far too much regulatory power over ISPs. At...

Note: This is post #68 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. Economists often make such claims as “a college diploma is an example of signaling.” What exactly do they mean by ‘signaling’? A signal is an action that reveals information, explains Tyler Cowen. In this video by Marginal Revolution University, Cowen looks at higher education, and shows how a a large fraction of the value you receive from your es on the day you earn your diploma. (If...

When we think about markets, we often think only in terms of mathematics or money. But at a deeper level, markets are simply networks of human relationships. When we participate in economic activity, we aren’t just creating wealth; we are munities, cultures, and civilization, partnering with God and neighbor in a divine exchange of gifts, blessings, and love. Yes, love! Yet the mere existence of markets doesn’t mean that such love will manifest itself accordingly. For that, we’ll need to...

Today is the first anniversary of the death of Michael Novak. The theologian, scholar, and writer was one of the most influential Catholic thinkers of his generation, and an indefatigable champion of free enterprise, democracy, and liberty. During his life Novak was a prolific writer. In addition to being the author or editor of more than 50 books, he wrote a syndicated column that was nominated for a Pulitzer. He was also a teacher (he taught at Harvard, Stanford, SUNY...

Of all the schools founded by Robert Luddy, author of the new book Entrepreneurial Life: The Path from Startup to Market Leader, not one of them has a cafeteria. The schools have gyms and Apple TVs, but none of the facilities needed to provide lunches each day. Yet, when I show visitors around the campus of Thales Academy, a chain of private schools Luddy founded in 2007 where I teach, the absence of a cafeteria is actually a bonus I...