Politics

August 22, 2017

Reading ‘Democracy in America’ (Part 4): The long shadow of the French Revolution

This is the fourth part in a series on how to read Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. Read the Introduction and follow the entire series here. In the previous installment, we considered feudalism as a class system of mutual responsibilities centered on land. Continue Reading...

August 22, 2017

The cramped morality of trade protectionism

“If a product is seen only as the opportunity for work, it is certain that the anxieties of protectionists are well founded.” –Frédéric Bastiat, Economic Sophisms Drawing inspiration from a 1847 essay by the inimitable Frédéric Bastiat, economist Donald Boudreaux tackles a popular argument from today’s trade protectionists: namely, “that protectionism is justified if enough consumers or voters are willing to pay higher prices in order to help workers.” Continue Reading...

August 07, 2017

Video: Kishore Jayabalan on Anti-Americanism at the Vatican

Kishore Jayabalan, the director of Istituto Acton, Acton Institute’s Rome Office, recently appeared on EWTN Rome to discuss a controversial article published by La Civiltà Cattolica and approved by the Vatican. Continue Reading...

July 26, 2017

The political implications of bitcoin

Prior to the publication of John Maynard Keynes’ The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, balanced budgets reflected the received wisdom for governments. By making the case for debt spending in times of recession (and the virtually ignored case for restricting spending in times of growth), Keynes gave political leaders a license to abandon the requirement of balance. Continue Reading...

July 14, 2017

Bonicelli: France’s Emmanuel Macron wrong about Africa’s ‘demographic’ problem

Paul Bonicelli, director of programs and education at the Acton Institute, published an article on French President Emmanuel Macron controversial response to the question: “Why isn’t there a Marshall Plan for Africa?” Continue Reading...

July 11, 2017

How ordinary economic thinking helps constrain political chaos

In an age where chaos and cronyism seem to be the defining characteristics of our politics, and where the political system is increasingly decried as being “rigged” by populists from both the left and right, the time seems ripe for a renewed focus on political constraints. Continue Reading...

July 11, 2017

Reading ‘Democracy in America’ (Part 2): What did Tocqueville mean by ‘equality of condition’?

This is the second part in a series on how to read Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America.” Read Part 1 and follow the entire series here. As we begin our study of Democracy in America, we bear in mind that the work’s distinguished author, Alexis de Tocqueville, blessed us with a clear, concise introduction to the two-volume work. Continue Reading...

July 10, 2017

Dorothy Sayers, school choice, and long run student success

Today’s Wall Street Journal article on education choice, “New Evidence on School Vouchers,” might look oddly familiar for those of us who have read Dorothy Sayers’ The Lost Tools of Learning. Continue Reading...

July 07, 2017

Opening the American city: Toward a new urban agenda

In the mid-20th-century, American cities suffered a wave of violent crime and poverty, due in part to shifts in the economy and public policy, as well as mass suburbanization. Yet in recent decades, those same cities are experiencing somewhat of a renewal. Continue Reading...

July 06, 2017

What the pastor taught the professor about social justice

I’m a middle-aged professor who regularly does a presentation on social justice. As a dedicated believer in the power of free markets, I tend to focus on social justice as distributive justice. Continue Reading...

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