Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Crony Capitalism

May 15, 2019

Should credit-card interest be capped at 15%?

Democratic presidential primary contender Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have unveiled a plan to cap credit-card interest rates at 15%: Under the “Loan Shark Prevention Act,” the annual percentage rate applicable to any extension of credit would not be allowed surpass 15% on “unpaid balances, inclusive of all finance charges” or “the maximum rate permitted by the laws of the State in which the consumer resides.” Continue Reading...
April 25, 2019

Protectionism keeps making Americans poorer

“President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on imported washing machines has had an odd effect,” notes Jim Tankersley in the New York Times. “It raised prices on washing machines, as expected, but also drove up the cost of clothes dryers, which rose by $92 last year. Continue Reading...
April 09, 2019

New Interview with Rev. Robert Sirico: ‘Socialism & Venezuela: What Can Catholics Learn?’

Fr. Robert Sirico was recently interviewed by Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J., on The Catholic Current. Their topic: ‘Socialism & Venezuela: What Can Catholics Learn?’ The conversation was wide ranging. It begins with a consideration of the disastrous socialist commitment to central planning and its present fruit of shortages, starvation, and totalitarianism in Venezuela. Continue Reading...
March 11, 2019

Elites, markets and cronyism

It’s no great secret that France is facing social upheaval and has some longstanding deep-set economic problems. Nor is it revealing to say that France’s political class is despised across the spectrum as woefully out of touch. Continue Reading...