Dodd-Frank: The Other Serious Threat

At least Obamacare comes at us head on. The greater legislative threat may be the one that most Americans have never heard of. Economist Scott Powell and Acton friend Jay Richards explain in a new piece in Barron’s: While Obamacare received more attention, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, also known as Dodd-Frank after its Senate and House sponsors, … unleashed a new regulatory body, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to operate with unprecedented power. Continue Reading...

Counting the Profit of a Third Party Choice

Joe Carter recently highlighted the discussion at Ethika Politika, the journal of the Center for Morality in Public Life, about the value of (not) voting, particularly the suggestion by Andrew Haines that in some cases there is a moral duty not to vote. Continue Reading...

Review: Redeeming Science and Art

Thanks to Andrew Walker for a great review of Wisdom & Wonder appearing in the fall issue of The City: It is important to remember that for Kuyper, reflection upon these disciples is not for the sake of their own merit, but instead, in an attempt to bring a coherent understanding of how, as the foreword states, ‘the gospel, and thereby the practice of the Christian faith, relates to every single area of society.’ Continue Reading...

ResearchLinks – 09.28.12

Article: “Big Questions and Poor Economics” James Tooley. “Big Questions and Poor Economics: Banerjee and Duflo on Schooling in Developing Countries.” Econ Journal Watch 9, no. 3 (September 2012): 170-185. In Poor Economics, MIT professors Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo set out their solutions for global poverty. Continue Reading...

Is Student Loan Debt an Avoidable Crisis?

At the height of the housing crisis, it was estimated that 11 million homes in America were mortgaged for more than they were worth. That debt crisis may soon be dwarfed—if it hasn’t been already—by the student loan debt problem: With college enrollment growing, student debt has stretched to a record number of U.S. Continue Reading...

Christian Manufacturer Strives Toward Productivity and Grace

I recently wrote about Hobby Lobby’s billionaire CEO, who, in a recent Forbes profile, made it clear how deeply his Christian faith informs his economic decision-making. This week, in Christianity Today, HOPE International’s Chris Horst profiles another Christian business, Blender Products, whose owners Steve Hill and Jim Howey actively work to elevate the practices of the metal fabrication business and, above all, operate their business “unto the Lord.” Continue Reading...

Societal Development and the Kalamazoo Promise

In a recent New York Times article (here), Ted C. Fishman offers and in-depth feature on the Kalamazoo Promise: Back in November 2005, when this year’s graduates were in sixth grade, the superintendent of Kalamazoo’s public schools, Janice M. Continue Reading...

EU’s Highest Court Rules in Favor of Religious Refugees

The European Court of Justice has ruled that those who are unable to practice their religion openly are entitled to claim asylum on the continent: In what could prove a landmark ruling for oppressed Christians, the European Court of Justice has ruled that people who are persecuted in their native countries due to their religion have the right to apply for asylum in Europe. Continue Reading...