Acton Commentary

November 28, 2018

On #GivingTuesday, avoid benevolent harm

Now that the giving season is upon us we should ask, says Andrew Vanderput in this week’s Acton Commentary, “How can one’s charity actually undermine the causes or people they mean to champion?” Continue Reading...

November 14, 2018

Russell Kirk: Where does virtue come from?

“How can human society form and raise up virtuous people?” asks Barton Gingerich in this week’s Acton Commentary. As Gingerich notes, Russell Kirk explored this perennial question in a 1982 essay titled, “Virtue: Can It Be Taught?” Continue Reading...

October 24, 2018

The spiritual core of political hate

“A new study confirms that creeping tribalism has Americans bitterly divided, acrimonious, and dismissive of others based on political differences,” says Rev. Ben Johnson in this week’s Acton Commentary. “Behind this animosity lies a spiritual principle that Rev. Continue Reading...

October 17, 2018

Alexis de Tocqueville, socialism, and the American Way

Tocqueville determined that the one defining factor in the United States was equality of condition, says John Wilsey in this week’s Acton Commentary. Tocqueville noticed that Americans apparently had the singular ability to prevent equality of conditions from yielding democratic despotism. Continue Reading...

October 10, 2018

The Romer Nobel cheers human potential

“Just last week I was telling a colleague that I hoped Paul Romer would finally win the Nobel prize in economics,” says Victor V. Claar in this week’s Acton Commentary. “And then he did.” Continue Reading...

September 26, 2018

5 ways the West gets African development all wrong

“In the last few weeks, Africa witnessed two major events that could influence the continent’s economic landscape in the coming decades,” says Ibrahim B. Anoba in this week’s Acton Commentary. First was the visit by British Prime Minister Theresa May and her pledge of $5.1 billion in investments continent-wide, as the UK prepares for life after Brexit. Continue Reading...

September 19, 2018

A Jewish perspective on market, justice, and charity

“Not a day goes by when there’s not some concern raised about the state of the economy and how people are faring,” says Curt Biren in this week’s Acton Commentary. “While recent economic growth has been promising, wage growth is lackluster, many say.” Continue Reading...

September 12, 2018

Look to the Dutch for true educational pluralism

“During the seven-decade political struggle in the Netherlands to allow parents to select schools corresponding to their religious convictions, Abraham Kuyper articulated a concept of “sphere sovereignty” that translates, in policy terms, into principled structural pluralism,” says Charles L. Continue Reading...

September 05, 2018

Walmart’s T-shirt homage to mass murder

It is extremely concerning and offensive to find Walmart and other retailers promoting what they call “cool shirts“ — bright red tees emblazoned with the Soviet hammer and sickle, says Mari-Ann Kelam in this week’s Acton Commentary. Continue Reading...

August 29, 2018

John McCain, the Hanoi Hilton, and public virtue

“Sen. John McCain, who passed away on Saturday, is undeniably the most famous prisoner of war held captive and tortured by the North Vietnamese,” says Ray Nothstine in this week’s Acton Commentary. Continue Reading...