Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Public Policy

November 29, 2006

Climate Change Hype Reaches Supreme Court

Right about now, the Supreme Court of the United States should be hearing the beginning arguments in Massachusetts, et al., v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al. (05-1120). Not much attention has been paid to this case over the last few months, but recently a spate of media attention has arisen, citing this case as perhaps “the most important environmental case in many years,” as well as “one of the biggest environmental cases in years.” Continue Reading...
November 28, 2006

Corruption in Health Care

Transparency International is a group devoted to exposing corruption of all kinds. One of the most sickening forms of corruption in many poor countries is health care corruption. One sort of corruption is absentee-ism: medical personel bill for their services even when they aren’t at work, but are doing another job. Continue Reading...
November 28, 2006

Hugh Hewitt and the Mormon Question

In a plenary address a couple weeks back to the Evangelical Theological Society, law professor and journalist Hugh Hewitt spoke about the religious affiliation of political candidates and to what extent this should be considered in the public debate (Melinda at Stand To Reason summarizes and comments here). Continue Reading...
November 27, 2006

Rule of Law and Economic Development in Mexico

This article, by California Western School of Law Professor James Cooper concerns me quite a bit. A legal specialist in Rule of Law, Cooper has been trying to establish legal reforms in Mexico that would make its judicial system more transparent. Continue Reading...
November 27, 2006

Fast Company’s Social Capitalists

Fast Company has announced the results of its 2007 search for socially responsible companies, conducted along with Monitor Group. View the winners and their grades in slideshow form here. The winners range from the generally praiseworthy, such as ACCION International, to the rather more questionable, like Ceres, whose claim to fame on the list is that “after joining Ceres, Dell agreed to support legislation to require electronics recycling,” to the downright stultifying, such as TransFair USA, the certifying body for the Fair Trade movement, which “has certified 74.2 million pounds of Fair Trade coffee.” Continue Reading...
November 27, 2006

Good News for the Moralists

Here’s some good news for those who prefer to combat cultural evil through the edification and cultivation of moral sensibilities: In “Repugnance as a Constraint on Markets,” Alvin E. Roth finds that “distaste for certain kinds of transactions is a real constraint, every bit as real as the constraints imposed by technology or by the requirements of incentives and efficiency.” Continue Reading...
November 26, 2006

The Parenting Class

Along the same lines as my earlier post, The Weekly Standard argues that putting the needs of parents first, can form a more stable foundation for an alliance between fiscal and social conservatives. Continue Reading...
November 26, 2006

The State Which Would Provide Everything

is the title of an insightful article by Fr. James Schall over at the Ignatius site. An analysis of the political contribution of Deus Caritas Est, Benedict XVI’s first encyclical, he comments: The Second half of the encyclical is a brilliant treatise on the nature and limits of the State and what lies beyond it. Continue Reading...
November 25, 2006

Immigration Policy and the Future of Free Market

I have been quite concerned for some time about the shrill debate over illegal immigration and its potential fallout for free trade. I have argued, at Acton events and elsewhere, that no long-term solution to the flow of illegal immigration from Mexico is possible, without significant economic growth in Mexico. Continue Reading...