Join West Michigan business leader, John Kennedy, for a discussion of the HHS mandate and Obamacare. Kennedy, president and chief executive officer of Autocam, is filing suit against the federal government because the “mandate unconstitutionally coerces” him to violate his convictions about the dignity of human life. What do business leaders need to know about ObamaCare and the HHS mandate? Don’t miss your chance to engage in a conversation on this timely issue. Kennedy will take questions online from attendees...

On Oct. 4, Rev. Robert A. Sirico, president and co-founder of the Acton Institute, spoke about social justice at the 2012 Hillsdale College Free Market Forum in Houston. The theme of the Forum, which encourages the study of free enterprise by bringing scholars together for dynamic exchanges of ideas on topics related to free market economics, was “Markets, Government, and the Common Good.” Rev. Sirico spoke about the evolved meaning of the phrase “social justice,” explaining the current usage of...

Call for Papers: “Intellectual Property and Religious Thought” University of St. Thomas School of Law, April 5, 2013. The University of St. Thomas will hold a conference titled “Intellectual Property and Religious Thought,” on April 5, 2013, co-sponsored by the Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law, and Public Policy and The University of St. Thomas Law Journal. The conference will be held at the University of St. Thomas School of Law building in downtown Minneapolis. Call for Papers:...

John Zmirak, author and Editor-in-Chief of The Intercollegiate Review, wants voters to know exactly what is at stake in the looming Presidential election. In a guest blogger piece at the National Catholic Register, Zmirak pointedly states that the choice between the two candidates isn’t just about whose economic agenda seems more reasonable or who won which debate: …it’s about what America means: At heart of our Constitutional democracy is the freedom of individuals, even those with unpopular opinions, to pursue...

Vatican II’s Declaration on Religious Freedom is just as timely today as it was fifty years ago, argues Joanna Bogle: Religious freedom is the issue of the hour: in America, in Europe, in what we (used to?) think of as “the West”. But what is particularly interesting is that es just as we are marking the 50thanniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council – the Council in which the Church explored the whole question of religious freedom and...

AEI recently held a contest challenging people to make a video that could articulate a moral case for free markets in two minutes or less. The $40,000 top prize was won by Jared Fuller with this entry, “The Moral Paper Route.” At AEI’s Values & Capitalism blog, Julia Thompson talks to Fuller about the making of the video. ...

Acton’s Director of Research, Samuel Gregg, notes in a recent NRO article that vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan has avoided “emotivist nonsense” and presented a clear moral vision for our country. Among other things, Ryan, ever so politely but unambiguously, underlined the immense damage inflicted by sometimes well-intentioned government welfare programs upon those in need. Yet he did so in a manner that detailed the economic costs but also went beyond a narrowly materialist reckoning. Ryan pointed to the manifold ways...

In the Western world there are conservative liberals, liberal liberals, and radical liberals, says David T. Koyzis, but all adhere to the basic principles of liberalism: The liberalism of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Of Thomas Jefferson and John Stuart Mill. After all, the Declaration of Independence is a liberal document, unquestioningly accepting that popular consent stands at the origin of political authority. As Alasdair MacIntyre has put it, in the Western world there are conservative liberals, liberal liberals, and...

After declaring a state of emergency in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie issued a forceful reminder to merchants: Price gouging during a state of emergency is illegal and will result in significant penalties. Price gouging—raising prices during an emergency condition over their normal level—is illegal in many states. But is it unethical? Jordan Ballor addressed that question in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina: Raising prices for modities during an emergency situation smacks of opportunism at best....

Everyone agrees that during times of natural disaster, people need help. With “Superstorm Sandy” pummeling the eastern third of the U.S., it is easy to see that many people will need aid in the form of food, clothing, shelter and other basic necessities, and we are obliged to help. But we should be smart about it. Brian Fikkert, author of “When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…or Yourself”, gives three reasonable guidelines for helping in these...