Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'economics'

June 13, 2013

How to Measure an Economy

Among the most significant economic challenges in America today is getting Americans to understand what an economy is. When the Latin term oeconomia was first used in the 1500s it meant “household management.” A few centuries later, the term political economy was used in reference to the economies of states or polities. Continue Reading...
June 06, 2013

The Problem With ‘Buy American’

The call to “buy American” is one we hear frequently or see plastered on the bumper of the car in front of us. Donald Boudreaux, senior economics advisor at Mercatus Center, explains the problem with this ideal in a letter to the Washington Post: Let’s make a deal.  Continue Reading...
June 05, 2013

‘Economic Examination of Conscience’

Kishore Jayabalan, Rome director of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, clarified remarks made by Pope Francis at a May 16 reception of new Vatican ambassadors. The pope, calling for an examination of the world’s relationship with money, said we are facing “dire consequences” due to the power we give money. Continue Reading...
June 03, 2013

You Say You Want A Revolution? Count The EU Out

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is a frustrated man. With unemployment rates in Germany hovering at around 8 percent, and Greece and Spain at almost 60 percent, he believes the EU is on the brink of “revolution.” His answer is not to scrap the welfare model however; he wants to preserve it. Continue Reading...
May 09, 2013

The Market is a Moral Teacher

Does the free market encourage moral behavior? Virgil Henry Storr, Research Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at George Mason University, recently wrote a report called “The Impartial Spectator and The Moral Teachings of Markets.” He addresses critics’ concerns that the free market brings out and nurtures human vices. Continue Reading...
May 07, 2013

Idle Young Americans: Are We Becoming Europe?

If  you’re a young American adult (the 25-to-34 age range), and you have a good job, count yourself blessed. Most of your peers aren’t so lucky. The New York Times reports that “[o]ver the last 12 years, the United States has gone from having the highest share of employed 25- to 34-year-olds among large, wealthy economies to having among the lowest.” Of course, young Europeans have been dealing with this for years. Continue Reading...