If You Want to Help the Poor, Support Religious Orders

Jim Shaw at the Catholic Herald has written a provocative piece that suggests one of the best ways to fight poverty is to support Catholic religious orders. He writes about his experiences in Africa: the lack of rule of law, the petty corruption that eats away at the poor, how lack of infrastructure obstructs progress for farmers and other businesses. Continue Reading...

Is It Ethical to Defy Evacuation Orders?

Despite requests to evacuate the area targeted by Hurricane Sandy, numerous residents in the northeast refused to leave their homes. Their decisions to defy evacuation orders, said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, were “selfish” and morally unjustified. Continue Reading...

Report: Catholic Bishops Warn of Refugee Crisis in Syria

On the National Catholic Register, Joan Frawley Desmond has a round up on the deepening crisis in Syria. She writes that Pope Benedict XVI, on his recent visit to Lebanon, “urged rival political, ethnic and religious groups to overcome their differences and find common ground for the sake of peace.” Continue Reading...

ResearchLinks – 11.02.12

Encyclopedia Entry: “Arts” Tyler Cowen. The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. 2d ed. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2007. General economic principles govern the arts. Most important, artists use scarce means to achieve ends—and therefore recognize trade-offs, the defining aspects of economic behavior. Continue Reading...