Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Poverty

April 28, 2015

The Economic Effects of the Baltimore Riots May Last Decades

Of all the disheartening scenes of unrest coming out of Baltimore this week, few have been as dispiriting as the image of a church project that was set ablaze. For the past eight years the Southern Baptist Church in East Baltimore has been working on a project that would provide a community center and low-income housing in the form of 60 senior-citizen apartments. Continue Reading...
April 21, 2015

Can Human Ecology Harm Humans?

That’s one of the questions that comes to mind when reading Bill McGurn’s op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal. Many free-market advocates, including yours truly, have already expressed concern over what may appear in the papal encyclical due this summer. Continue Reading...
April 17, 2015

How the ‘Shoe That Grows’ is Helping Kids in Extreme Poverty

One day while walking to church in Nairobi, Kenya, Kenton Lee noticed a little girl in a white dress who had shoes that were way to small for her feet. He thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if there was a shoe that could adjust and expand – so that kids always had a pair of shoes that fit?” That question led to the development of “The Shoe That Grows,” a shoe that grows from a size 5 to a size 12 and can last from 5 to 10 years. Continue Reading...
April 13, 2015

Andy Warhol, Boredom, And Poverty

AEI’s Arthur Brooks offers up an interesting take on solutions to poverty. He thinks the key lies in “boring things,” and his inspiration is artist Andy Warhol. I often ask people in my business — public policy — where they get their inspiration. Continue Reading...
April 09, 2015

What We Can Learn From the ‘Homeless Coder’

On his way to work in 2013, tech entrepreneur Patrick McConlogue walked past a homeless man, Leo Grand, who was exercising with a heavy chain. McConlogue took this as a sign of Grand’s internal drive and motivation and decided to try an experiment: The idea is simple. Continue Reading...
March 31, 2015

Can We End Extreme Poverty by 2030?

Can the world put an end to extreme poverty within the next 15 years? That’s the current goal of the World Bank, and its expected that the United Nations will adopt that same target later this year. Continue Reading...
March 30, 2015

Bob Geldof: Trade Not Aid for Ethiopia

Good story in the Wall Street Journal today about rocker-activist Bob Geldof and how he’s spearheading a push by private-equity firms into Ethiopia to effect a “historic shift from aid to trade.” Investments are flowing into private sector projects such as a flower farm, a juice company, pipeline building and commodity exchanges. Continue Reading...
March 16, 2015

Who Will Bring Jesus and Justice To Poor Whites?

Being “missional” and showing a concern for justice for the poor have become issues of increasing concern among American evangelicals. Yet the focus tends to tend to be on urban minorities instead of the largest percentage of Americans living under the poverty line. Continue Reading...
March 11, 2015

Peace and Provision at a Pizza Shop

Rosa’s Fresh Pizza in Philadelphia has now given away more than 10,000 slices of pizza, using a unique “pay-it-forward” system where “customers can pre-purchase $1 slices for those in need.” The story is inspiring on a number of levels, illuminating the power of business to channel the best of humanity toward meeting complex needs in new and unexpected ways, often quite spontaneously. Continue Reading...