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...

“The poor will always be with us, but such a sobering reality does not free us from an obligation to work to alleviate the ravages of poverty,” says Trey Dimsdale. “On the contrary, Jesus’ statement only serves to remind us that every generation will face the question of how best to fulfill our holy obligations to them.” It is clear that many in the present generation have taken notice of the plight of the poor and are moved by passion...

KangZeLiu, Globalization, CC BY-SA 4.0 Acton’s Director of Research, Samuel Gregg recently spoke on the Library of Law and Liberty’s podcast Liberty Law Talk to answer the question, “Is globalization in retreat?” You can listen to the discussion here. For more from Acton on globalization, see other PowerBlog posts. ...

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....

A significant fact lies buried inside MEP Richard Sulik’s report on how subsidiarity could save the European Union: EU programs are reinforcing the very Communist-era behaviors they are intended to eradicate. Taxpayer-funded grants from the European Union are fueling cronyism and corruption, especially in its newest and most vulnerable member states. EU funds inflict the worst corrupting of the political process in former Communist countries, Sulik, an MEP from Slovakia, writes: Despite the good intention, European funds have e the...

Series Note: Jobs are one of the most important aspects of a morally functioning economy. They help us serve the needs of our neighbors and lead to human flourishing both for the individual and munities. Conversely, not having a job can adversely affect spiritual and psychological well-being of individuals and families. Because unemployment is a spiritual problem, Christians in America need to understand and be aware of the monthly data on employment. Each month highlight the latest numbers we need...

The Acton Institute Mini-Grants on Free Market Economics program accepts proposals from faculty members at colleges, seminaries, and universities in the United States and Canada in order to promote the scholarship and teaching of market economics. This program allows for collaboration between faculty from different universities, as well as help future leaders to emerge, strengthen, and expand the existing network of scholars within economics. Entrants may submit proposals in two broad categories: course development and faculty scholarship. Here is plete...

Almost 90 years have passed since the beginning of the Great Depression and yet most of us are still unclear on what caused America’s greatest economic collapse. The causes and precursors plex, of course, but there are a few factors that we should know about. In this brief video, economist Alex Tabbarok provides one of the best overviews of what exactly occurred during this troubling period in economic history. (If you find the pace of the videos too slow, I’d...

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...

Peter Augustine Lawler died last week at the age of 65. Lawler, who referred to himself as a “postmodern conservative”, was a distinguished political philosopher and public intellectual who frequently wrote about the role of virtue in the modern (or postmodern) world. In honor of his passing, here are six quotes by Lawler on virtue: On virtue and knowing: “Virtue is the action that flows from knowing: 1. Who we are. 2. What we’re supposed to do. Doing, as Aristotle...