September 5 | Acton PowerBlog
“Is Adolescent Culture Making Us Weak?”

While lifeguarding during the summer of my college years, I remember an attractive young woman who worked with me who complained she could not meet any guys at her school, The University of Notre Dame. I inquired further, figuring it to be the beginning of a punch line to a joke. She noted the problem as being young male students, and their over-interest in video games. Maybe you have seen the bumper stickers which declare, “It is never too late to have a happy childhood.”

August 28 | Acton PowerBlog
“Job Licensing and 'The Children'”

Do you ever walk into a business and see a license on the wall and wonder if that specific industry really needs to be licensed by the state? I know I have thought that, if just a few times. John Fund of the Wall Street Journal looks at how licensing laws hinders low prices and competition in the marketplace. In a piece titled, License to Kill Jobs, Fund also explains how over regulation has stymied job growth and the ability of new entrepreneurs to become more self reliant.

August 21 | Acton PowerBlog
“Japanese Comics and Cultural Economics”

A few weeks ago I was listening to a very engaging American RadioWorks documentary, rebroadcast from last October, “Japan’s Pop Power.” The show focused on the increasing cultural imports to America coming from Japan, which by some estimations will soon dwarf industries typically associated with American-Japanese trade like automobiles, technology, and electronics. Japan’s economic success is a sure sign that human creativity and inventiveness are more important factors in human flourishing than mere material concerns or natural resources.

August 17 | Acton PowerBlog
“Confessing Evangelical Economics”

A number of comments have been floating around the blogosphere related to the news coming out of Colorado last week that a professor at Colorado Christian University was terminated because “his lessons were too radical and undermined the school’s commitment to the free enterprise system.”

July 30 | Acton PowerBlog
“From Trash to Treasure”

Two news items sparked my curiosity as I opened my Sunday paper this week related to the themes of narrative and stewardship. One of the strengths of good stories is their perennial applicability. Narratives that speak to the human condition in a fundamental way will always be relevant, even if the particulars change...

July 24 | Acton PowerBlog
“The Truth about Force in Reconciliation”

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in post-apartheid South Africa has been hailed as the standard for working for restorative justice in the contemporary world. One of the misunderstandings surrounding the work of the commission, however, involves the relationship between the forgiveness, reconciliation, and amnesty offered by the commission in relation to the coercive power of the state.

July 20 | Acton PowerBlog
“John Chrysostom, On Wealth and Poverty”

...Riches are a blessing and a temptation: “Do not call these things good without qualification, O man, bearing in mind that they are given by the Master in order that by enjoying them in due proportion we may have sustenance for our life and may overcome the weakness of our bodies; but the truly good things are something else. None of these things is good, not luxury, not wealth, not expensive clothing; they have only the name of goodness. Why do I say that they have only the name? They often indeed cause our destruction, when we use them improperly. Wealth will be good for its possessor if he does not spend it only on luxury, or on strong drink and harmful pleasures; if he enjoys luxury in moderation and distributes the rest to the stomachs of the poor, then wealth is a good thing. But if he is going to give himself up to luxury and other profligacy, not only does it not help him at all, but it even leads him down to the deep pit.”

July 18 | Acton PowerBlog
“Without A Prayer”

I would say I met Jeremy Jerschina by chance on the campus of Calvin College, except that nothing ever happens by chance on the very Reformed sidewalks, hallways, and parking lots of Calvin College. So I’ll say I met him by Providence. Jeremy was visiting from New Jersey as a prospective Calvin student, to study Philosophy or Theology or something in the humanities. He struck me as being extremely well-read, genuine, and sensitive to the call of God on his life. When I heard just a few weeks ago that he was graduating as valedictorian of his high school class, it didn’t surprise me in the least...

July 16 | Acton PowerBlog
“Don't Cry For Che Guevara”

Cuban–American author Humberto Fontova has a new book out entitled, Exposing The Real Che Guevara and the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him. Che worship is something I have been fascinated with for quite some time, especially among the young Americans who are hyper consumers...

July 11 | Acton PowerBlog
“Cheerful Giving”

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7) Genuine giving can be a very hard thing to do, especially when talking about money and finances. The Gospels make this abundantly clear with the story of the rich young ruler. I remember attending a church where the tithes were brought forward to the altar and being tempted to come carrying an empty envelope on several occasions.

July 6 | Markets & Morality Archives
A Communitarian Model of Business: A Natural-Law Perspective

This article compares and contrasts a communitarian view of business with business models under the liberalist and socialist doctrines. Specifically, it attempts to define a communitarian view that is based on natural-law principles. The communitarian view represents the proper balance and order between the claims of liberal and socialist views, and provides assistance to private initiative, while at the same time correcting its abuses and respecting its rights. The theoretical framework developed in this article utilizes a metaethical approach in specifying the underlying philosophical assumptions about rationality, primary purpose, basic unit, supreme value, market characteristics, dynamics of market regulatory mechanism, and juridical order. Today, there is need for a new humanism based on an integral view of the human person. Natural-law communitarianism recaptures the metaphysical certitude of the human person and thereby provides a philosophy of authentic human development. By its very nature, it defines the business organization that incorporates its social purposes.

July 3 | Acton Commentary Archives
“The Scandal of Our Declaration of Independence”

On the afternoon of July 4, 1776, Congress also appointed a committee that included Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson to design a fitting national emblem. The first proposed seal (which ultimately was not adopted) featured this motto borrowed from Reformation political thought: "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God." Modern congresses, unaware of our heritage, might be bullied into stripping the references to "obedience to God." Of course, Franklin and Jefferson—courageous enough to face down zealous devotees of secularism—even approved a graphic for the seal depicting a scene from the Book of Exodus, complete with Moses, pillar of fire, and George III cast as Pharaoh. That was real independence.

June 28 | Markets & Morality Archives
Abraham Kuyper and the Holland-America Line of Liberty

A distinguished-looking, somewhat portly Dutch visitor came to Grand Rapids, Michigan, one hundred years ago and on October 26, 1898, gave an inspirational address to an enthusiastic crowd of some 2000 Dutch-American immigrants praising the American experiment in ordered liberty. Standing on a stage draped with both the American and Dutch flags he told his audience...

June 25 | Acton PowerBlog
“The Abject Failure of the U.N.”

The idealism and the goals of the United Nations are laudable. The results, at least in recent years, have often been nothing short of a disaster. One example will suffice---the recently created U.N.’s Human Rights Council, begun a year ago this past week. This council is sadly typical of the modern collapse of the U.N. The Human Rights Council consists of 47 members, almost half of which are “unfree” or “partly free” nations, at least as ranked by Freedom House. Trying to get China, Russia, Cuba and Saudi Arabia to reach an agreement on violations of freedom in various countries is like trying to get the mafia to give up crime.

June 22 | Acton PowerBlog
“Immigration and Xenophobia”

From David Schmidtz’s Elements of Justice: "An overlooked virtue of first possession: It lets us live together without having to view newcomers as a threat. If we were to regard newcomers as having a claim to an equal share of our holdings, the arrival of newcomers would be inherently threatening..."

June 19 | Programs News
“No Place Like Home”

At last year’s Acton University, a few Austrian attendees made an interesting YouTube video celebrating their rediscovery of the huge and obvious contributions their country has made to free-market economics. But what about the countries that don’t have an entire school of economic thought named after them? My conversations with international participants at this year’s conference underscored two themes over and over again. First, that even the unlikeliest countries have some philosophical heritage undergirding capitalist thought. Second, that AU attracts the kind of people who want to recapture -- not necessarily import -- foundational principles to apply them within their own cultural context.

June 17 | Programs News
“A Firsthand Taste of Maggot-Free Capitalism”

On Wednesday at Acton University a group of seven African attendees joined Kris Mauren on a visit to Gordon Food Service’s Grand Rapids headquarters for an up-close look at ethical capitalism. Mauren called it a great opportunity for people from countries with barren and corrupt markets to see an efficient, principled business for themselves.

June 11 | Acton PowerBlog
“The Church as Global Constituency for the Poor”

Last Friday I attended a day’s worth of events at the Assembly of World-Wide Partners of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. Michael Smitheram, who is International Coordinator for the Micah Challenge, introduced various folks attending the conference who are involved in the Micah Challenge’s work. He also provided a summary of what he thought the mission of the Micah Challenge was: “In the Micah Challenge, the body of Christ is finding its voice as a global constituency for the poor.” To be clear, by ”constituency" Smitheram means a political constituency...

June 6 | Acton PowerBlog
“The Instrumentality of Wealth”

Clement of Alexandria: "Riches, then, which benefit also our neighbours, are not to be thrown away. For they are possessions, inasmuch as they are possessed, and goods, inasmuch as they are useful and provided by God for the use of men; and they lie to our hand, and are put under our power, as material and instruments which are for good use to those who know the instrument..."

June 4 | Acton PowerBlog
“Do Nothing, Save the Planet”

“If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” That’s a good rule, I think. The Care of Creation blog is noting, however, that “people who work longer hours use more energy and generally contribute more to the decline of the ecological quality of life on planet earth.”...

May 30 | Markets & Morality Archives
Exchange Matters: Perspectives from Social Capital, Neighborhoods, and Modern Culture

Everyday exchanges of ideas, goods, and time made by people are fundamental for life. This article explores exchange relationships of different kinds and maintains that they are an essential and common component of economic activity and of Judeo-Christian morality. Although risks and costs must be faced, individuals and regions can become better off through self-interested trade and investment exchanges. Jesus tied exchange behaviors to what life is like in the kingdom of heaven and to the spiritual well-being of individuals.

May 25 | Religion & Liberty Archives
The Challenge of Globalization to the Church

The church has the potential to tackle world poverty and to change the culture of globalization in a way that governments and international institutions do not. It is very easy in considering the challenges of globalization and international development to enter a secular debate, on secular terms, in which the Christian faith has seemingly limited relevance and is reduced to the margins. Jesus, however, was under no illusion of the claims he was making when he declared “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Or of the fact that he came to establish a kingdom on earth, which he stated was “not of this world” but which is relevant nevertheless to every aspect of our life in it. The church is a witness to that kingdom and because of that has great potential to influence our world for the better.

May 21 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Fairness in the Market

How, in a market setting, can you be assured that you are getting a good deal? We all know people who distrust every price, believe that most business people are concealing something important, and have a vague suspicion that every enterprise is a racket.

May 14 | Acton PowerBlog
Poverty and the Christian Left

There is clearly a “Christian Left” growing among evangelicals in America. We have heard a great deal about the “Christian Right” for more than two decades. I frequently critique this movement unfavorably. But what is the Christian Left?

May 8 | Markets & Morality Archives
"Christian" Economics

This article assesses the relevance of the Christian faith for economics. It argues that faith in the Trinity provides the basic pattern for the market system–a system that puts radically different and independent agents into a positive and fruitful relationship. As a result of being patterned throughout his life on the trinitarian model, the Christian economic agent is more capable of developing exchanges, of allocating resources efficiently, and thereby fostering growth than the solipsistic homo economicus of conventional theory. The Christian message brings to humanity the anthropological characteristics that are required to overcome the game-theoretic deficiencies that prevent economic agents from fully developing public goods, which the market system needs to function. It is, of course, obvious that the market system is an imperfect, human reflection of the trinitarian pattern and must be perfected through history.

May 4 | Religion & Liberty Archives
The Effectiveness of the Private Sector

The American public is still being cheated out of a welfare debate that will address in fundamental ways the disintegration of our neighborhoods and of our country. So far the debate has been dominated by two choruses: the Great Society chorus that keeps insisting that with a little more money (a few billion here and there) and a little more imagination (reinventing a program here and cutting a few bureaucrats there), we will solve the intransigent social problems facing us; and the limited government chorus that assumes that once government is out of the way, once taxes have been cut and the budget balanced, all will be well, not only on Main Street, but on the increasingly mean streets in our inner cities. I am singing as loudly as the next person in the second chorus, but I also know that our song is only part of the story and only half of the truth.

April 30 | Acton PowerBlog
“The Corporate Milk Wars”

Biotech giant Monsanto has added its considerable influence to the push to restrict or ban labeling of dairy products as free from added rBST, a hormone commonly used to induce cows to produce more milk. ... The FDA shouldn’t be siding with major milk producers to squash competition from Amish farmers. And neither should it be taking sides in corporate marketing disputes about the merits of using or not using rBST. Let the customers have the information and decide for themselves.

April 26 | Markets & Morality Archives
Human Dignity, Personal Liberty

From their inception, capitalism and free markets have evoked outcries from individuals of all stripes. Today, we hear from those on the Right that market forces destabilize society, that they undermine tradition, and that they have a tendency to corrupt culture. Similarly, from those on the Left we hear that market forces oppress and alienate man, turning him into nothing more than a commodity that gets bought and sold on the open market to the highest bidder. Each side of the spectrum voices important concerns that may be reduced to one much simpler: the fear that market forces treat people as objects, not as persons.

April 20 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Exporting Hope

Born in 1960 behind the Iron Curtain, Mart Laar was the prime minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002. A historian by training, he is the author of the 1992 book War in the Woods, which documents the Estonian resistance fighters’ struggle against the Soviet Union after World War II. As prime minister of Estonia, Laar’s free-market reforms took Estonia from a country devastated by Soviet economics to one of the most vibrant in Europe. He currently lectures all over the world about Estonia’s renaissance and rise from communism.

April 17 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Conjugal Economics

The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man” (Genesis 2:23). When Adam awoke from his nap and uttered these words about his wife, he offered a view of how God’s perfectly formed male-female relationship was meant to look. Only eight verses later this ideal relationship comes to an end when man and woman fall from the perfect plan of God.

April 13 | Acton PowerBlog
“Prophecy and the Supremacy of Consensus”

Michael Welker: "The prophet does not confuse truth with consensus. The prophet does not confuse God’s word with the word of those who happen to hold power at present, or with the opinion of the majority. This is because powerholders and the majority can fall victim to a lying spirit—and this means a power that actually seizes the majority of experts, the political leadership, and the public."

April 13 | Acton PowerBlog
“The 100-Mile Suit”

What would you say if you interviewed someone and they wore a suit looking like this?...

April 9 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Politics and Independence

On the question of religion and politics, it seems like the Christian community is forever sliding between two errors. On the one hand, there is a long tendency to eschew politics as too worldly and unbecoming to Christian piety. If we place our hopes in the afterlife, why should we dedicate ourselves to political change now? This is the error of quietism, which calls for quiet contemplation and prayer and totally eschews any action. Yet God calls some to a political role in the hope of making a difference in the world. There is nothing wrong with this. Indeed, our faith calls for a cultural transformation. It is not satisfied with individual piety alone.

April 1 | Acton PowerBlog
“A Psalm for Holy Week”

Psalm 22 - A Cry of Anguish and Song of Praise - A Psalm of David 1My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? ...

March 28 | Religion & Liberty Archives
The Entrepreneurial Vocation

One may say, without fear of contradiction, that prejudice against minorities is unpopular in modern society. And with good reason: the idea that people are judged merely by the group that they happen to belong to, without any regard for their person or individual qualities, is properly odious to anyone with moral sensibilities.

March 22 | Markets & Morality Archives
A Biblical/Theological Case for Basic Sustenance for All

This article defends the proposition that all human persons merit basic sustenance on biblical grounds. The nature of humankind, God’s design for creation, the distribution of the land of Canaan, covenant law, an option for the poor, and Jesus’ teaching all serve to support this proposition. The article does not propose specific political-economic means to effectuate this biblical mandate. Rather it seeks to show that the mandate requiring basic sustenance for all is a matter of justice that can be carried out in contemporary societies through a variety of political-economic strategies.

March 21 | Markets & Morality Archives
A Communitarian Model of Business: A Natural-Law Perspective

This article compares and contrasts a communitarian view of business with business models under the liberalist and socialist doctrines. Specifically, it attempts to define a communitarian view that is based on natural-law principles. The communitarian view represents the proper balance and order between the claims of liberal and socialist views, and provides assistance to private initiative, while at the same time correcting its abuses and respecting its rights. The theoretical framework developed in this article utilizes a metaethical approach in specifying the underlying philosophical assumptions about rationality, primary purpose, basic unit, supreme value, market characteristics, dynamics of market regulatory mechanism, and juridical order. Today, there is need for a new humanism based on an integral view of the human person. Natural-law communitarianism recaptures the metaphysical certitude of the human person and thereby provides a philosophy of authentic human development. By its very nature, it defines the business organization that incorporates its social purposes.

March 19 | Acton PowerBlog
“EU Conflicts of Interest”

The nearly decade-long battle between the European Union and Microsoft took another turn earlier this month, as the EU Commission offered a fresh threat to Microsoft: Submit to our demands or face stiff new penalties. The item at issue is an aspect of the 2004 ruling against Microsoft, in which “the Commission fined Microsoft and ordered it to provide its competitors with information allowing them to develop workgroup server software interoperable Windows desktop operating system.”

March 13 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Europe Is Losing Its Soul

Europe is a unique cultural and spiritual phenomenon that was formed over the course of centuries and is currently undergoing fundamental changes. Why does the fate of Europe concern us, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church? Because Russia, while possessing a distinctive culture and self-consciousness, is also an integral part of Europe. It is not by chance that Dostoevsky, who like nobody else was conscious of Russia’s uniqueness, nevertheless called Europe his second home. In the Russian soul, Europe occupies a special place, primarily because of its Christian roots. I would like to stress that these roots go back not only to Western Christianity, but also to Eastern Christianity, mainly through Byzantium.

March 8 | Acton PowerBlog
The Call of the Entrepreneur

As many of you may know, Acton has been working on a documentary. The Call of the Entrepreneur will premier in Grand Rapids, Mich., on May 17 at Celebration Cinema North. Come one, come all, and see this wonderful documentary. The Call of the Entrepreneur tells the stories of three entrepreneurs: one a farmer in rural Evart, Michigan, another a mercantile banker in New York, and finally an entrepreneur in Hong Kong, China. The film examines the drive behind what these people do: Why are they driven to create wealth? Why do they produce? Who does it benefit?

March 7 | Religion & Liberty Archives
America’s Challenge

Mr. Colson speaks about the historical impact that Christians have had in modern society and the importance of "ecumenism of the trenches," Christians working together, despite their differences, to overcome the threats they face from secularism and Islamo-fascism. He also touches on several issues that stand in the way of Christian understanding and dialog with Islam and how Christians can operate in the public square.

March 1 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Politics and Independence

On the question of religion and politics, it seems like the Christian community is forever sliding between two errors. On the one hand, there is a long tendency to eschew politics as too worldly and unbecoming to Christian piety. If we place our hopes in the afterlife, why should we dedicate ourselves to political change now? This is the error of quietism, which calls for quiet contemplation and prayer and totally eschews any action. Yet God calls some to a political role in the hope of making a difference in the world. There is nothing wrong with this. Indeed, our faith calls for a cultural transformation. It is not satisfied with individual piety alone.

February 24 | Markets & Morality Archives
A Communitarian Model of Business: A Natural-Law Perspective

This article compares and contrasts a communitarian view of business with business models under the liberalist and socialist doctrines. Specifically, it attempts to define a communitarian view that is based on natural-law principles. The communitarian view represents the proper balance and order between the claims of liberal and socialist views, and provides assistance to private initiative, while at the same time correcting its abuses and respecting its rights. The theoretical framework developed in this article utilizes a metaethical approach in specifying the underlying philosophical assumptions about rationality, primary purpose, basic unit, supreme value, market characteristics, dynamics of market regulatory mechanism, and juridical order. Today, there is need for a new humanism based on an integral view of the human person. Natural-law communitarianism recaptures the metaphysical certitude of the human person and thereby provides a philosophy of authentic human development. By its very nature, it defines the business organization that incorporates its social purposes.

February 19 | Religion & Liberty Archives
The Challenge of Globalization to the Church

The church has the potential to tackle world poverty and to change the culture of globalization in a way that governments and international institutions do not. It is very easy in considering the challenges of globalization and international development to enter a secular debate, on secular terms, in which the Christian faith has seemingly limited relevance and is reduced to the margins. Jesus, however, was under no illusion of the claims he was making when he declared “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Or of the fact that he came to establish a kingdom on earth, which he stated was “not of this world” but which is relevant nevertheless to every aspect of our life in it. The church is a witness to that kingdom and because of that has great potential to influence our world for the better.

February 18 | Acton PowerBlog
“Managing Manure”

One of the stories told in the Acton’s forthcoming documentary, “The Call of the Entrepreneur,” (trailer available here) is that of Brad Morgan, a Michigan dairy farmer, who bucked the odds and the naysayers and turned the problem posed by the disposal of his herd’s manure into a profitable business venture. ... Brad Morgan turned the waste from cows into a valuable commodity. And now researchers and government officials are following Morgan’s lead.

February 14 | Religion & Liberty Archives
The Creative Imperative

Commercial society’s impact upon poverty is … not simply a result of the unintended consequences of market exchange. It owes much to commercial society’s particular moral foundations. By moral foundations, we mean particular values and habits of action indispensable for the workings of commercial society….What follows is an attempt to describe commercial society’s basic moral foundations...

February 13 | Acton PowerBlog
“The Role of Limited Government”

Our religious and political rights are uniquely bound up together. Most young Americans, and far too many older native born American citizens, have little or no idea how important this truth really is. The central idea behind this unique relationship in American political understanding is limited government. This is really what classical liberalism understood and fervently practiced. Modern liberalism has little or nothing to do with this understanding, preferring to stress ideologies that are neither truly liberal nor limited.

February 9 | Markets & Morality Archives
What Bearing, If Any, Does the Christian Doctrine of Providence Have Upon the Operation of the Market Economy?

Christian economists Robin Klay and John Lunn have come up with an original and provocative argument that divine providence guides and directs the spontaneous orders of modern market economies. Jewish and Christian scriptures seem to offer “little guidance about how such markets should be re-garded”; therefore, Klay and Lunn decided to turn their attention toward the traditional doctrine of providence and have proposed that the contemporary market economy may be understood as one way through which God provides for the world.

February 5 | Markets & Morality Archives
The “Eschatological Principle” in Catholic Social Thought

The doctrine of the eschaton is not usually included among the array of Christian and Catholic social principles. In fact, it is often thought that attention to the last things hinders the commitment and quality of the Christian’s efforts in the temporal order. This article shows why the doctrine of the eschaton in fact has profound social ramifications. To wit: One’s eternal destiny is contingent upon the Christian’s fulfillment of his task in the temporal order, and because the Chris-tian’s final hope is not worldly that task can be carried out regardless of the cost. The article also explores a related principle, the “proper autonomy of the temporal order,” and shows how both it and the “eschatological principle” are grounded in the Christian incarnational view of reality. Finally, the article shows how these principles shed light on the role of the laity in the temporal order.

February 4 | Acton PowerBlog
“The Super Bowl and Christian Freedom”

This is, as millions already know, Super Bowl week. Nothing is hyped all across America quite like the Super Bowl. This game has reached amazing proportions when it comes to the viewing audience and massive commercialization. It is a stunning piece of popular culture and one doesn’t know whether to weep about it or celebrate. Some pietistic folk see this as clear evidence that there is little real difference between us and the ancient Romans in the Coliseum. Others think this is the greatest day of the whole year with the biggest event of all time at 5 p.m. Everything, so it seems, virtually comes to a halt for the Super Bowl.

February 1 | Markets & Morality Archives
A Communitarian Model of Business: A Natural-Law Perspective

This article compares and contrasts a communitarian view of business with business models under the liberalist and socialist doctrines. Specifically, it attempts to define a communitarian view that is based on natural-law principles. The communitarian view represents the proper balance and order between the claims of liberal and socialist views, and provides assistance to private initiative, while at the same time correcting its abuses and respecting its rights. The theoretical framework developed in this article utilizes a metaethical approach in specifying the underlying philosophical assumptions about rationality, primary purpose, basic unit, supreme value, market characteristics, dynamics of market regulatory mechanism, and juridical order. Today, there is need for a new humanism based on an integral view of the human person. Natural-law communitarianism recaptures the metaphysical certitude of the human person and thereby provides a philosophy of authentic human development. By its very nature, it defines the business organization that incorporates its social purposes.

January 27 | Markets & Morality Archives
Exchange Matters: Perspectives from Social Capital, Neighborhoods, and Modern Culture

Everyday exchanges of ideas, goods, and time made by people are fundamental for life. This article explores exchange relationships of different kinds and maintains that they are an essential and common component of economic activity and of Judeo-Christian morality. Although risks and costs must be faced, individuals and regions can become better off through self-interested trade and investment exchanges. Jesus tied exchange behaviors to what life is like in the kingdom of heaven and to the spiritual well-being of individuals.

January 27 | Markets & Morality Archives
A Communitarian Model of Business: A Natural-Law Perspective

This article compares and contrasts a communitarian view of business with business models under the liberalist and socialist doctrines. Specifically, it attempts to define a communitarian view that is based on natural-law principles. The communitarian view represents the proper balance and order between the claims of liberal and socialist views, and provides assistance to private initiative, while at the same time correcting its abuses and respecting its rights. The theoretical framework developed in this article utilizes a metaethical approach in specifying the underlying philosophical assumptions about rationality, primary purpose, basic unit, supreme value, market characteristics, dynamics of market regulatory mechanism, and juridical order. Today, there is need for a new humanism based on an integral view of the human person. Natural-law communitarianism recaptures the metaphysical certitude of the human person and thereby provides a philosophy of authentic human development. By its very nature, it defines the business organization that incorporates its social purposes.

January 24 | Markets & Morality Archives
Natural Law and Modern Economic Theory

The concept of natural law is pervasive in academic discussions of ethics, politics, and jurisprudence. However, it is much more difficult to unearth the influence of and relationship between natural law and modern economic theory within current scholarly dialogue. This unfortunate lacuna in scholarship is inter alia due to the facts that natural law suffers from an inherent ambiguity as to whether its foundations are religious and it lacks any rigorous scientific validation. This article defends and advances the importance of natural law for modern economic theory. In doing so, it presents the classical view of natural law as found in the work of Thomas Aquinas and addresses both its religious foundations as well as scientific evidence for its existence. Beyond offering a portrait and defense of natural law, this article discusses the specific contributions that natural law offers to modern economic theory in an attempt to imbue the latter with a more complete notion of humanity and existence.

January 23 | Acton PowerBlog
“Even Big Bird Knows Better”

You may have seen this story a few weeks back toward the end of last year: “Some faith groups say bottled water immoral,” by Rebecca U. Cho of the Religion News Service. The core of the story revolves around this assertion made by the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program and a number of other mainline projects: Drinking bottled water is a sin. ... The lack of access to water in many developing nations is a real and serious problem. But the exploitation of this real problem by the NCC, however, is indefensible.

January 20 | Acton PowerBlog
“ABC's Nannies & Mommies”

One of ABC’s new dramas, Brothers & Sisters, features Calista Flockhart as a hard-hitting conservative pundit named Kitty Walker. Despite its title, the show is not all that family friendly (although it has not yet been rated by the Parents Television Council). But for this post, I won’t be focusing on the questionable social and sexual mores of the show. Instead, I’m going to focus on an aspect of the show’s portrayal of politics.

January 17 | Markets & Morality Archives
The Universal Destination of Goods: The Ethics of Property in the Theory of a Christian Society

In its property ethics, the theory of a Christian society tries to bring together two statements that at first glance are not easily reconciled. The first statement underscores the importance of private property to the freedom and personal development of a person and declares that the right to personal property is a natural law. The second statement reminds us that God has destined the goods of this earth to the benefit of all people and nations, and, therefore, they must also be enjoyed by all. When either statement is divorced from the other, misunderstandings, controversies, or even ideologies easily result. This holds for the Catholic theory of society as well as for Protestant social ethics. Even though most of the following citations are taken from the social encyclicals and other documents of the Roman Catholic Church, all of the fundamental statements also hold for Protestant social ethics in the tradition of Martin Luther.

January 16 | Markets & Morality Archives
“The Digital Divide”

In its recently released Information Economy Report 2005, the secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development underscored the importance of private competition and rule of law in overcoming what has been dubbed “the digital divide” separating developed from developing countries.

January 8 | Markets & Morality Archives
Secular Fundamentalism and Democracy

This article critiques the view, which may be termed secular fundamentalism, that democracy requires religious arguments and religious believers to be excluded from political discourse. Two objections are raised against secular fundamentalism: First, it is premised on a flawed reading of the historical record that assumes religion and democracy are incompatible; second, it falsely assumes a stark division between religious (irrational) and secular (rational) reasons. The article goes on to propound a democratic model of church-state relations, prem-ised on the “twin tolerations” and priority for democracy. Finally, it is suggested that, in certain polities at least, stable democracy may require a religiously coherent rationale.

January 2 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Dignity, Democracy, and the Free Market

The myth of the perfect society is certainly nothing new. The idea of an earthly paradise organized by superior men, whether they be aristocrats, wise philosophers, or members of a self-appointed proletarian avant-garde, has been an incessant theme in human affairs since the time of Plato...

December 23 | Acton PowerBlog
“More than a Social Gospel”

In a much discussed op-ed for CNN last week, hipster church leaders Marc Brown and Jay Bakker lodge a complaint against Christianity that doesn’t respect the call “love others just as they are, without an agenda.” Speaking of Jesus, Brown and Bakker write, “The bulk of his time was spent preaching about helping the poor and those who are unable to help themselves. At the very least, Christians should be counted on to lend a helping hand to the poor and others in need.” I’m sympathetic with their concerns that Christianity not become “co-opted by a political party” or only about “supporting laws that force others to live by their standards.” I’m less sympathetic with their emphasis on Christianity strictly as social gospel.

December 19 | Acton Commentary Archives
Letting Business Help: The Promise of Education Tax Credits

With recent election results splitting control of the national government, legislators must now confront the challenge of crafting bipartisan initiatives. There is a prime opportunity for enlisting such broad support, which has not yet been fully developed: educational choice.

December 15 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Trust and Entrepreneurship

When it comes to business and the economy, the word trust has two—and to some people diametrically opposed—meanings. Trust as a virtue in the marketplace means having confidence in the honesty, reliability, and integrity of market players. It speaks volumes about our free enterprise system that a stranger can walk into a small business, for example, that he has never patronized before, and yet generally trust that he will be served well, dealt with fairly, and will walk out the door with a product that does what it is supposed to do.

December 11 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Conjugal Economics

The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man” (Genesis 2:23). When Adam awoke from his nap and uttered these words about his wife, he offered a view of how God’s perfectly formed male-female relationship was meant to look. Only eight verses later this ideal relationship comes to an end when man and woman fall from the perfect plan of God.

December 9 | Acton PowerBlog
“Government Works to Protect Tithing”

Following up on the story from a couple months back about restrictions to bankruptcy filings prohibiting filers from budgeting for tithing, and in the midst of the controversy surrounding Rick Warren’s invitation to Sen. Barack Obama to appear at a Saddleback Church event, news comes both houses of Congress have passed the “Obama-Hatch Tithing Bill.”

December 5 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Europe without Roots

Optimism is obligatory, but it’s cheap. In the current situation, there is a heavy price to pay. Relativism has wreaked havoc, and it continues to act as a mirror and an echo chamber for the dark mood that has fallen over the West. It has paralyzed the West, when it is already disoriented and at a standstill, rendered it defenseless when it is already acquiescent, and confused it when it is already reluctant to rise to the challenge.

December 1 | Acton PowerBlog
“The Giving Thing”

John Stossel’s 20/20 show last Wednesday night, “Cheap in America,” asked the tough questions about American generosity. It was an intriguing piece, weaving contrasting arguments for two key conclusions: Bureaucracies, government ones and even big charity ones (national or international), just don’t do as good a job as private, local donors and charities; and (2) Americans are truly more generous than any other people on the planet--no matter their means. Rich and poor alike give generously.

November 29 | Acton PowerBlog
“Hugh Hewitt and the Mormon Question”

In a plenary address a couple weeks back to the Evangelical Theological Society, law professor and journalist Hugh Hewitt spoke about the religious affiliation of political candidates and to what extent this should be considered in the public debate.

November 26 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Interest and Responsibility

Since at least the middle ages, the payment and receipt of interest has existed under a moral cloud, due mainly to a misunderstanding concerning what interest is and why it exists. Medieval theologians gradually came around to the view that now prevails in economic science.

November 23 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Dignity, Democracy, and the Free Market

The myth of the perfect society is certainly nothing new. The idea of an earthly paradise organized by superior men, whether they be aristocrats, wise philosophers, or members of a self-appointed proletarian avant-garde, has been an incessant theme in human affairs since the time of Plato.

November 20 | Religion & Liberty Archives
What is the Acton Institute doing to support promising young scholars?

An important part of the work of the Acton Institute is promoting the scholarship of tomorrow. Aside from offering conferences, seminars, and publication, the Acton Institute promotes scholarship monetarily. The Calihan Academic Fellowships, Research Fellowships, and Travel Grants provide monetary assistance to students of special potential, encouraging them to explore the intersection of religious principles with human dignity, the importance of the rule of law, limited government, and religious and economic liberty.

November 17 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Exporting Hope

Born in 1960 behind the Iron Curtain, Mart Laar was the prime minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002. A historian by training, he is the author of the 1992 book War in the Woods, which documents the Estonian resistance fighters’ struggle against the Soviet Union after World War II. As prime minister of Estonia, Laar’s free-market reforms took Estonia from a country devastated by Soviet economics to one of the most vibrant in Europe. He currently lectures all over the world about Estonia’s renaissance and rise from communism.

November 15 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Europe Is Losing Its Soul

Europe is a unique cultural and spiritual phenomenon that was formed over the course of centuries and is currently undergoing fundamental changes. Why does the fate of Europe concern us, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church? Because Russia, while possessing a distinctive culture and self-consciousness, is also an integral part of Europe. It is not by chance that Dostoevsky, who like nobody else was conscious of Russia’s uniqueness, nevertheless called Europe his second home. In the Russian soul, Europe occupies a special place, primarily because of its Christian roots. I would like to stress that these roots go back not only to Western Christianity, but also to Eastern Christianity, mainly through Byzantium.

November 12 | Markets & Morality Archives
The Secret, Natural, Theological Foundation of Adam Smith's Work

This article will discuss the theological foundation of Adam Smith’s writings. Teleology, final causes, and divine design were initially seen as central to understanding Smith’s writings. Over time, this view fell out of fashion. In the period after World War II, with the rise of positivism, commentators tended to overlook or downplay this interpretation. In the last decade or so, a “new theistic view” of Smith has emerged; in at least these interpretations, teleology has been restored to its former position as an essential element in understanding Smith. After sketching Smith’s teleology and his view of final causes, divine design, and the ends of nature, we explain the Panglossian nature of some of the new-view interpretations of Smith. While our view differs somewhat, we agree with the essence of the new-view claim: A theological view exists in Smith and this underpins his moral and economic theories.

November 9 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Defending the Weak and the Idol of Equality

People unfamiliar with Catholic social teaching may be surprised to learn that the church has consistently condemned socialism. The Catholic Church has never embraced “equality” the way socialism has. The church is not indifferent to the poor. Rather, the church proposes an alternative principle for helping them. Instead of “make everyone equal” as a guiding premise, the church proposes “defend the weak” as the appropriate posture toward the poor. These approaches have different factual foundations and distinct policy implications, especially with regard to society’s most basic institution, the family.

November 6 | Acton PowerBlog
“The Idolatry of Political Christianity”

On this eve of the mid-term elections in the United States, it’s worthwhile to reflect a bit on the impetus in North American evangelical Christianity to emphasize the importance of politics. Indeed, it is apparent that the term “evangelical” is quickly coming to have primarily political significance, rather than theological or ecclesiastical, such that Time magazine could include two Roman Catholics (Richard John Neuhaus and Rick Santorum) among its list of the 25 most influential “evangelicals” in America.

November 2 | Acton PowerBlog
“Politics and the Experience of the Kingdom”

One of the blessings we can look forward to on election day in the United States is the certain knowledge that, at last, we’ll be able to turn on the radio or TV without having to endure the unrelieved assault of political advertising. There seems to be some strange metaphysical law of campaigning that encourages politicians to outrageously inflate the actual record of accomplishments, and outrageously enlarge the scope of hopeless promises, as the number of campaign days dwindle down.

October 31 | Acton PowerBlog
“What is Truth!”

Hugh Hewitt interviewed Andrew Sullivan on the radio last week about Sullivan’s book, The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It, How to Get It Back. Discussing the value of various figures throughout history as moral heroes, Sullivan speaks of “the great question that Pilate asked, what is truth? The truth is not quite as easy and as simple as we sometimes think it is. And the truth about everything, the meaning of the whole universe, is something that is, by definition, very hard for humans to grasp. I mean, God, if God exists, must, by definition, be unknowable to us.”

October 26 | Religion & Liberty Archives
For I Was Hungry and You Fed Me: Ag-biotech and Hunger

To well-fed (sometimes overfed) people in Western countries, it is certainly odd to think of food as a life-saving medicine. But for those suffering from chronic hunger and malnutrition, the idea is a reality. It is repeated over and over again that the amount of food produced in the world is enough to feed all the hungry people in the world [1]; hence, the solution to hunger is not to increase production but to improve distribution of what is already being produced. As sensible this statement might seem, it is of no help to the hungry.

October 16 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Defending the Weak and the Idol of Equality

People unfamiliar with Catholic social teaching may be surprised to learn that the church has consistently condemned socialism. The Catholic Church has never embraced “equality” the way socialism has. The church is not indifferent to the poor. Rather, the church proposes an alternative principle for helping them. Instead of “make everyone equal” as a guiding premise, the church proposes “defend the weak” as the appropriate posture toward the poor. These approaches have different factual foundations and distinct policy implications, especially with regard to society’s most basic institution, the family.

October 4 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Defending the Weak and the Idol of Equality

People unfamiliar with Catholic social teaching may be surprised to learn that the church has consistently condemned socialism. The Catholic Church has never embraced “equality” the way socialism has. The church is not indifferent to the poor. Rather, the church proposes an alternative principle for helping them. Instead of “make everyone equal” as a guiding premise, the church proposes “defend the weak” as the appropriate posture toward the poor. These approaches have different factual foundations and distinct policy implications, especially with regard to society’s most basic institution, the family.

October 1 | Religion & Liberty Archives
The Dividends of Social Capital

Why have so many countries been unable to fully adopt a market economy? The answer is complex, but there are certain basic conditions that must be met for an economy to become free and prosperous. Two that are non-negotiable are private property and the rule of law. Without these a market cannot exist. An educated workforce, low taxes, and minimal regulation are also helpful.

September 28 | Religion & Liberty Archives
Trust and Entrepreneurship

When it comes to business and the economy, the word trust has two—and to some people diametrically opposed—meanings. Trust as a virtue in the marketplace means having confidence in the honesty, reliability, and integrity of market players. It speaks volumes about our free enterprise system that a stranger can walk into a small business, for example, that he has never patronized before, and yet generally trust that he will be served well, dealt with fairly, and will walk out the door with a product that does what it is supposed to do.

September 25 | Religion & Liberty Archives
The Economy of Trust

The market has deficiencies of a kind for which ethics is a remedy. For example, the world is really filled with private information. There is inside information on products and in contracts. In these situations, there is a very strong possibility of one person using this information to take advantage of the other. If this happens frequently, a market may not exist at all because the buyers know that they don’t know certain things, and that the sellers can exploit them. Therefore, it’s not so much that there are potential unfair gains, but that such uncertainties about private information can make the market inefficient. In fact, if the problem is pronounced, the market may not exist at all...

September 21 | Acton PowerBlog
“China, Christianity, and the Rule of Law”

The implications of the formation of a new human rights group in China may mean that the establishment of a uniform religious law would be a positive first step in the pursuit of religious liberty.

September 18 | Religion & Liberty Archives
The Virtues of Development

Imagine yourself in the fifteenth century, at a university in Spain or Italy, a time of increasing scientific discovery, technical innovation, economic development, rising prosperity, and increasing intellectual awareness of the meaning of economic science. You are involved in the great intellectual project of discovering the laws of economics and applying these laws to the world. You have discovered what goes into the creation of a price, what causes inflation, how trade works, and why innovations come to be available to all. You begin to see a glimmer of a great hope: a future without mass deprivation, disease, persistent infant death, and human suffering.

September 12 | Religion & Liberty Archives
For I Was Hungry and You Fed Me: Ag-biotech and Hunger

To well-fed (sometimes overfed) people in Western countries, it is certainly odd to think of food as a life-saving medicine. But for those suffering from chronic hunger and malnutrition, the idea is a reality. It is repeated over and over again that the amount of food produced in the world is enough to feed all the hungry people in the world...

September 6 | Acton PowerBlog
“Wealth, Envy, and Happiness”

One of the most common substitutes for God is money, which is in part why Jesus warns us against this specific temptation. The prophet Ezekiel describes the voracious appetite of the wicked foe: “He is as greedy as the grave / and like death is never satisfied.” But greed is not a vice simply of our foes or enemies; we are all tempted by this natively human sin.

August 29 | Acton PowerBlog
“Changing Culture, Not Politics, Changes Human Behavior”

Welfare reform is not a partisan issue. In the end there is clearly a moral component in such reform. Ten years is enough time to demonstrate that the reform has worked but there is still much to be done, both to continue the gains of the reform and, more importantly, to raise the ability of our society to care for its weakest members in ways that promote both personal responsibility and communities of compassion.

August 24 | Public Policy Archives
Faith Makes a Difference: A Study of the Influence of Faith in Human Service Programs

In the first nationwide study that specifically measures how faith relates to the organization and delivery of human service programs, initial results indicate that faith-based or religious charities do indeed conduct their operations in ways that markedly set them apart from secular organizations.

August 21 | Markets & Morality Archives
What Is Economic Personalism? A Phenomenological Analysis

Much like phenomenology, the philosophical movement of economic personalism has preceded its complete and clear awareness of itself as a philosophical position. This article attempts to articulate what exactly this position is by employing a phenomenological analysis. The organization of this investigation consists of three parts. The first is a linguistic analysis of the names economics and personalism that attempts to arrive at a joint meaning of these terms. The second is a regressive inquiry from meaning to a priori apprehension, and this examination is aimed at making the essential nature of economic personalism perspicuous. The third presents the necessary and sufficient conditions for either conduct or a situation to qualify as an object in the domain of economic personalism.

August 15 | Markets & Morality Archives
Natural Law and the Fiduciary Duties of Business Managers

Recent business scandals have focused attention on failures of corporate governance involving serious breaches of traditional legal and ethical standards on the part of those who manage corporate affairs. This article argues that the legal standards applicable to managerial behavior are traceable to deeply rooted moral standards that are the basis of the “fiduciary principle”; that the fiduciary principle is a principle of natural law that has been incorporated into the Anglo-American legal tradition; and that this principle underlies the duties of good faith, loyalty, and care that apply to corporate directors and officers. The fiduciary duties of corporate managers run to shareholders and not to creditors, employees, and other “stakeholders.” This article further argues that corporate directors cannot eliminate their fiduciary obligation by contract. Enforcement by the courts of longstanding fiduciary standards of conduct is a better solution to problems of corporate governance than increased government regulation.

August 10 | Acton PowerBlog
“'Beyond Petroleum' or 'Big Problem'?”

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams is asking, “Was the BP pipeline problem preventable?” It seems that BP has allegedly been giving required maintenance to the pipeline short shrift: “Allegations about BP’s maintenance practices have been so persistent that a criminal investigation now is under way into whether BP has for years deliberately shortchanged maintenance and falsified records to cover it up.”

August 6 | Acton PowerBlog
“Gambling Hypocrisy”

We can agree about the basic hypocrisy that comes from the current political state of gambling in America, in which institutional structures are put in place to benefit the government and particular special interests, against the interests of the most vulnerable and potential competitors.

August 6 | Acton Commentary Archives
“Perpetuating Poverty: Lotteries Prey on the Poor”

The insidiousness of state lotteries comes with government involvement in the industry. What begins as a well-intentioned plan to provide for the needs of the people – education funding for example – very often becomes just another source of revenue for a voracious state treasury. Lotto revenue is often diverted for new purposes through legislative and bureaucratic chicanery.

August 6 | Acton Commentary Archives
“Betting on Gambling is a Risky Wager”

Given the history of state governments and their stewardship (or lack thereof) of state lotteries, is there any reason to doubt that the move to expand gambling is simply a way to find new foraging ground for bloated, but ever-voracious, bureaucracies?

August 4 | Markets & Morality Archives
Applying Judeo-Christian Principles to Contemporary Economic Issues

That Christian Scripture, the social teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, and other Christian theological systems contain transhistorical normative principles intended for application to contemporary socioeconomic life is a common claim. An instance of this approach is illustrated by a selection of Protestant economists. They argue that particular principles can be derived from scriptural exegesis intended to guide the organization of employment in advanced capitalist economies. The methodology employed in this undertaking is demonstrated. The second section takes the form of an elaborate Bible study. It utilizes the work of biblical exegetes to show how the economists in question deduce a particular normative principle intended to inform the organization of business firms. The third section discusses how this principle might be applied in the advanced capitalist economy. The methodology underlying the entire enterprise has been criticized, and the validity of the critique is assessed in the final section.

July 25 | Religion & Liberty Archives
I, T-Shirt: Lessons from the Cotton Industry

I remember being a teenager, proudly lacing up a new pair of Nikes as a news story blared on the television. The story reported on the poor children in Asia who crafted my new fashion statement in cruel conditions for mere pennies a day. I won’t lie; it stole the luster for me. I was unaware then that there was more to the story than simply poor children in a sweatshop and fancy me in my Nikes. Now that I am older, I recognize that trade and globalization—issues so vital to the extension of human rights—are rarely presented evenhandedly in the media.

July 24 | Acton Commentary Archives
Benedict XVI and Freedom

Acton adjuct scholar Alejandro Chafuen argues that the new pope places the concept of freedom centrally to his thinking. And “with freedom comes an incalculability -- and thus the world can never be reduced to mathematical logic,” writes Chafuen.

July 11 | Markets & Morality Archives
What Profits for a Man to Gain: Just (the) Price (of the Soul)

This article advances a new way to define the just price based on the thoughts of Aristotle and Saint Thomas Aquinas and that I also recast in perspectives that interest contemporary debates. I argue that the just price be simply the price that the (metaphorically) just person determines. The primary burden of this article, therefore, will be to flesh this out in all its details, which will involve explaining, among other things, the role and place of undeflected practical reasons that have their source in the first practical principles, that is, the natural law.