Month: February 2016

February 26, 2016

The Puzzle of Economic Growth

Why are some countries rich and others poor? The answer to that question is complex – and hotly debated. But economist Alex Tabarrok outlines several key ingredients to consistent economic growth -productivity, incentives, institutions – and explains how they are combined with factors such as a country’s history, ideas, culture, geography, and even a little luck. Continue Reading...
February 26, 2016

The real foundations of secular ideologies

Writing for the Catholic World Report, Acton’s Director of Research Samuel Gregg, reflects on Cardinal Henri de Lubac, whom he calls one of the “greatest theologians” of the 20th century. Gregg also argues that de Lubac’s interest in how secular ideologies such as Marxism or socialism had such influence on the Western church would benefit us today. Continue Reading...
February 25, 2016

Why Protectionism Is Like Drinking Salt Water

Protectionism, the practice of shielding a country’s domestic industries from foreign competition by taxing imports, has a strong appeal for Americans because it seems so obvious. If the globalized economy is a zero-sum game, then a “win” for China in the form of increased manufacturing jobs is likely to be a “loss” for America. Continue Reading...
February 24, 2016

Crossing the Waters of Freedom

“Although its roots are often attributed to Latin America, liberation theology was born in German schools of theology in the early twentieth century,” says Ismael Hernandez in this week’s Acton Commentary. Continue Reading...
February 24, 2016

Green America’s Immoral Anti-GMO Crusade

Readers will forgive their writer for being clueless when it comes to the connection between religion and mayonnaise. Ever since Woody Allen’s character pondered converting to Roman Catholicism in the 1986 film Hannah and Her Sisters by schlepping home a Bible, Crucifix, loaf of Wonder Bread and a jar of Hellmann’s mayo, I’ve wondered what on earth the condiment reference meant. Continue Reading...