Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Economics

April 04, 2014

Mozilla’s Statement of Faith and the Altars of Conformity

Brendan Eich, Mozilla co-founder and creator of the JavaScript programming language, was recently appointed as Mozilla’s chief executive. Just one week later, however, he was pressured to resign. His iniquity? Donating $1,000 in support of Proposition 8, a measure whose basic aim was entirely consistent with the beliefs of Barack Obama at the time. Continue Reading...
April 04, 2014

No, the Pope doesn’t need distributism (because nobody does)

Pope Francis needs distributism, argues Arthur W. Hunt III in the latest issue of The American Conservative. Hunt says that Americans and popes alike can embrace a humane alternative to modern capitalism: In the midst of their scramble to claim the new Pope, many on the left missed what the Pontiff said was a nonsolution. Continue Reading...
April 02, 2014

Oikonomia: A Holistic Theology of Work in One Flowchart

The following flowchart comes from “Theology That Works,” a 60-page manifesto on discipleship and economic work written by Greg Forster and published by the Oikonomia Network. Given our tendency to veer too far in either direction (stewardship or economics), and to confine our Christian duties to this or that sphere of life, the diagram is particularly helpful in demonstrating the overall interconnectedness of things. Continue Reading...
April 02, 2014

Samuel Gregg on Just Money

“If a society regards governmental manipulation of money as the antidote to economic challenges,” writes Acton research director Samuel Gregg at Public Discourse, “a type of poison will work its way through the body politic, undermining justice and the common good.” Continue Reading...
March 27, 2014

How the IRS Killed Bitcoin as a Currency

“For federal tax purposes, virtual currency is treated as property.” With those ten words, the IRS has made it more difficult — if not impossible — for bitcoin and other virtual currencies from gaining widespread, mainstream acceptance as a currency for commercial transactions. Continue Reading...
March 21, 2014

Visualizing ‘The Forgotten Man’

In November of last year, we had the privilege of welcoming bestselling author Amity Shlaes for a visit here at the Acton Building while she was in Grand Rapids to speak about Calvin Coolidge at Grand Valley State University’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies. Continue Reading...
March 14, 2014

Whose Higher Ed Bubble Will Burst?

Consider the following (emphasis added): “Higher education is an industry in danger,” says Clayton Christensen, the Harvard Business School guru and a senior advisor (unpaid) at Academic Partnerships. “It’s very plausible to say that 15 years from now half of the universities that exist will be bankrupt and in some fundamental way facing extinction and the need to totally change themselves.” Continue Reading...
March 14, 2014

‘Stop Being Poor’

Admittedly, “stop being poor” sounds a bit like “let them eat cake.” The remark was made by Todd Wilemon, a managing director at NYSE Euronext, when he was asked what people should do if they could not afford health insurance. Continue Reading...