Our most recent issue of the Journal of Markets & Morality has now been published online and print issues are in the mail. Volume 18, no. 1 is a special issue. Guest editor Shirley Roels details the origins of the contributions in her (open access) editorial: To highlight the 2013–2014 English publication of the first volume of [Abraham] Kuyper’s mentary mon grace, the Calvin College Business Department organized an October 2014 symposium, which was co-sponsored by the Acton Institute. Faculty,...

A plaint by the political left is that the CEOs of panies earn too much money. The implication is not, however, that the “excess” money should be distributed to the shareholders (who actually own pany). Instead, the ideais that “fairness” requires that much of theprofitthat normally goes toward the CEO’s pay should be redistributed to the rest of pany’s employees. But what if we took it a step further: What if we redistributed all corporate profits to workers? What if...

A new stage is set for an old conversation. This week marks the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD3) held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Bringing in representatives of almost 200 countries, it has drawn attention from the anti-poverty crowd across the globe. Whether they are members of NGOs, churches, celebrities, or politicians, many concerned about the developing world have their ears turned to Ethiopia. FFD3 isn’t the first conference of its kind. The original summit took place in...

Kishore Jayabalan, director of the Istituto Acton in Rome, talked to Voa News yesterday about the flaws in Pope Francis’s pronouncements on free markets and globalization, as articulated in the recent encyclical Laudato Si’. “When the pope says that this economy kills, that this economy destroys the environment, I’m not quite sure what economy he’s talking about,” said Jayabalan. Read the full article here. ...

I recently enjoyed a brief back-and-forth with 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben in which he claimed that I accused him of lacking religious faith. That most assuredly was not the case. I told him so, but also stood by my initial assertion that he and other environmental activists are cherry-picking Pope Francis’ Laudato Si for religious and moral firepower on climate-change while ignoring those elements that are core Roman Catholic teachings with which they disagree. Let’s look at Mr. McKibben’s religious...

Yesterday Zack Pruitt explained why when “sanctuary cities” disregard the rule of law on immigration, humanitarian issues e clouded and morality is challenged. But what exactly are sanctuary cities? This short video byThe Daily Signal explains what they are and why they’ve e so controversial. ...

During a recent interview, presidential candidate Jeb Bush outlined his economic plan, which included a goal of achieving 4 percent economic growth. As for how we might achieve thatgrowth, Bush went mita grave and sinful error, daring implythat Americans might need to work a bit harder: My aspiration for the country —and I believe we can achieve it —is 4 percent growth as far as the eye can see,” he told the newspaper. “Which means we have to be a...

North Korea has been cut off from the rest of the world for nearly 70 years and few people outside of its borders – especially in the West – have a realistic picture of how life really goes on. Yes, we know it’s a horrible place, essentially a giant concentration camp, but how do North Koreans live their lives? Joseph Kim’s memoir, with contributions from Stephan Talty, Under the Same Sky: From Starvation in North Korea to Salvation in America...

Last week Senator Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) proposed an amendment to the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind bill that would allow Title I funds–the funds the federal government allocates to districts with high-poverty populations–to follow students out of their assigned district schools to schools of choice. Democrats in the Senate (joined by six Republicans) successfully fought to keep the portability amendment as well as school vouchers out of the legislation. As Think Progress explains, the White House and Senate...

During his encounter with President Morales of Bolivia last week, Pope Francis was given a munist cross.” In this week’s Acton Commentary Jorge Velarde Rosso explains why the gift was not so harmless. Of course Morales had an agenda with that gift. It wasn’t an innocent gesture. Designed by the same Jesuit priest who had been honored by Francis a few minutes earlier, the pope’s “that is not OK” represented a correction to Morales. The fact, however, that Morales gave...