When es to climate change, economists can’t predict the future, says Anne Rathbone Bradley in this week’s Acton Commentary. But economic thinking is a roadmap for prudence and in terms of environmental policy, that’s precisely what we need. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris climate agreement just days ago, provoking a brouhaha over environmental policy. For those who are genuinely concerned about environmental stewardship, we can in fact do better without the UN-sponsored framework. We can...

On Friday, May 27, Jeremy Joseph Christian accosted a Muslim woman, then stabbed three men in Portland. Two have died – one a 23-year-old, the other a veteran and father of four. The third victim’s injury reportedly missed being fatal by one millimeter. This morning at his arraignment, the grand jury returned a 15-count indictment that could grow longer – and could include the death penalty. Some are surprised to learn that this white supremacist supports Bernie Sanders, opposes the...

Note: This is post #36 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. What are externalities and what are the different kinds of costs? And what does this have to do with the rise of “superbugs”? In this video by Marginal Revolution University, Alex Tabarrok introduces externalities, including the concepts of private cost, external cost, and social cost. (If you find the pace of the videos too slow, I’d mend watching them at 1.5 to 2 times the speed. You...

When the benediction is offered at the conclusion of a church service, it can be easy to nod in agreement even as we neglect or forget the actual implications for everyday life. As we exit the walls of the local church and engage with the rest of the world — economically, socially, or otherwise — how do we shine our light with both love and distinction? In a recent lecture at the Oikonomia Network’s Karam Forum, Vincent Bacote encourages us...

On Sunday, I attended the wedding of a wonderful young couple I’ve known most of their lives. (Weddings in the Orthodox Church are usually held on Sundays, rather than Saturdays, so that the newlyweds will not be tempted to begin their married life by skipping church.) While I’ve had the joy of performing the marriage ceremony, this time as I stood among the friends and well-wishers, a single sentence stood out to me. In the translation of the ceremony used...

Pope Leo XIII, writing in the midst of social crisis at the end of the nineteenth century, wisely observed: “When a society is perishing, the wholesome advice to give to those who would restore it is to call it to the principles from which it sprang.” For the American experiment in ordered liberty, this means in large part going back to the Anglo-American tradition represented by Adam Smith and Edmund Burke. Thus I argue in “Fountainheads of Fusionism” that “fusionism...

President Ronald Wilson Reagan passed away 13 years ago today, but his legacy of advancingfreedom continues to be appreciated around the world. Deep in the heart of the former Soviet bloc, in Bulgaria’scapital city, officials have unveiled a new monument to Reagan. The bust of America’s 40th presidenthas significance beyond the already weightytriumph of democracy over oppression, or capitalism over socialism. Sofia’s South Park was the battleground for religious liberty in 1989, just as munism was about e crashing down....

Today is World Environment Day, the United Nations’ “most important day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment.” Though we may disagree on policy solutions, we here at the Acton Institute share the UN’s concern for the environment. In 2007 we published Environmental Stewardship in the Judeo-Christian Tradition as our primary source for religious thought on environmental stewardship. The following piled by Elise Hilton, gathers information from “A Biblical Perspective on Environmental Stewardship,” an essay...

In a recent visit to a steel factory in Italy, Pope Francis said, “One sickness of the economy is the gradual transformation of entrepreneurs into speculators.” “The speculator doesn’t love his business, doesn’t love the workers, but only sees the business and workers as the means to make profit,” the pontiff added. But the pope doesn’t seem to understand what speculators do, says Luanne Zurlo. What Francis blames speculators for doing, says Zurlo, is not speculating but rather engaging in...

Note: This is post #20 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 National Intelligence (DNI) Department: Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Current Director:Dan Coats Department Mission:“The core mission of the ODNI is to lead the IC in intelligence integration, forging munity that delivers the most insightful intelligence possible. That means effectively operating as one team: synchronizing collection, analysis and counterintelligence...