Review of Pope Francis and the Caring Society, edited by Robert M. Whaples; The Independent Institute, Oakland, CA; 2017, 234 pp. Having toiled in the free-market research universe for nearly two decades, perhaps the mon misperception I’ve encountered is “whataboutism.” Readers know of which I write: “What about BP and Deepwater Horizon?” or “What about Enron?” and, perhaps most stridently, “What about the mortgage-lending plicity in causing the Great Recession?” When this rhetorical strafing fails, there’s always the “What about...

What just happened? Last week the House Agriculture Committee introduced the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, monly known as the Farm Bill. The new Farm Bill makes significant changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the “largest program in the domestic hunger safety net.” What is SNAP? The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal welfare program that provides nutritional support for low-wage working families, e seniors, and people with disabilities living on fixed es. This program,...

Today is the 275th birthday of Thomas Jefferson. Since our third president would object to us celebrating his birthday (“The only birthday I memorate,” Jefferson once said, “is that of our Independence, the Fourth of July.”) let’s take this opportunity to instead look at six quotes by Jefferson on liberty and government. On personal liberty: “Under the law of nature, all men are born free, every es into the world with a right to his own person, which includes the...

Faithlessness is so ingrained in French culture that the president’s mere consultation with the nation’s Christian leaders apparently verges on a constitutional crisis. Emmanuel Macron appealed to the nation’s clergy to bring their faith’s insights to bear on national issues, specifically economic stagnation and human dignity. But his decision to meet with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of France(CEF) and400 guests inside the College des Bernardinsin Paris on Monday set off a national row over whether he had violated the principle...

On this episode of Radio Free Acton, Acton’s director of programs and education, Paul Bonicelli, talks to John Suarez, research director at the Center for a Free Cuba. This talk is a preview of an ing event at Acton on April 17: Communism in Cuba, its international impact, the democratic resistance and U.S. Cuba policy. Then, on the next Tech and the Future of Work segment, Dan Churchwell, Acton’s associate director of program outreach, speaks with Kevin Scott, a soybean...

‘Ludwig von Mises’ by Ludwig von Mises Institute CC BY-SA 3.0 Richard H. Spady, research professor of Economics at Johns Hopkins, has recently published a piece at First Things entitled ‘Economics as Ideology’ in which he explores some contemporary trends among economists and their use of economics as a Procrustean bed to reshape society in its own image, A body of thought is “ideological” when it will­fully projects its own first principles on its subject matter and actively seeks, perhaps...

In recent decades, America has experienced a wave of economic and social disruption. In our search for solutions, however, we tend to look only at the surface, assessing the architecture of particular policies or stroking our chins over economic measurements like Gross Domestic Product. But what if we had a deeper view of the dynamics beneath the surface? What if we had way to measure, assess, and observe the state of“associational life”in America (as Alexis de Tocqueville may have called...

As we continue to see emerging instances of anti-poverty activism gone wrong, we are routinely reminded that good intentions aren’t enough. Alas, while such intentions can sometimes serve as fuel for positive transformation, they can also be a blind spot for hearts and minds. As Oswald Chambersonce cautioned,“Always guard against self-chosen service for God,” which “may be a disease that impairs your service.” If our primary starting point is self-sacrifice for the sake of self-sacrifice, the actual goal is lost,...

“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” -John 5:17 As the faith-work movement continues to grow across modern evangelicalism, many Christians are gaining renewed perspectives on the meaning and dignity of daily work. Yet even as we begin to understand God’s planand purposefor our work, many of us still assume that this is where God’s role ends. But God doesn’t just infuse our work with meaning and then sit back on...

What just happened? On Tuesday, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave testimony (though not officially under oath) before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Senate Commerce, Science, and mittees. On Wednesday, Zuckerberg testified at a second hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He was asked to appear before Congress to discuss such issues as data privacy and Russian use of his social network to meddle in the 2016 election. Why is Facebook and Zuckerberg now...