Differing views on economic growth

Economic Growth in the U.S. has slowed down compared to historical averages according to recent reports from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  Some are claiming that this is okay and that it is “normal” while there are others who disagree and understand that economic growth is essential to a prospering society.  Continue Reading...

Interview: The Christian case for libertarianism

Is it possible to be both a Christian and a libertarian? In a forthcoming book, Called to Freedom: Why You Can Be Christian & Libertarian, six Christian libertarians offer an emphatic, “yes,” exploring key tensions and challenging a range common critiques (whether from conservative Christians or secular libertarians). Continue Reading...

Grace renews nature (even in politics)

“We see immediately that grace is inseparably connected with nature, that grace and nature belong together.” –Abraham Kuyper In their new book, One Nation Under God: A Christian Hope for American Politics, Bruce Ashford and Chris Pappalardo offer a robust vision of Christian political engagement, one that neither retreats from the world nor accommodates to its ideological whims. Continue Reading...

Trump: ‘They have to work, too’

Today at The Stream I provide some analysis of Donald Trump’s speech earlier this week at the Detroit Economic Club. As I conclude, “The trouble for Trump’s promised future lies in the impossibility of reclaiming a bygone era.” Continue Reading...

George Washington’s principles for the nation revisited

In a recent article titled “George Washington’s Constitutional Morality,” Samuel Gregg explores the views of the first President on the founding principles and guiding influences of the United States. Gregg identifies three key elements of Washington’s political wishes for the new nation: Washington identified a distinct set of ideas that he thought should shape what he and others called an “Empire of Liberty”—classical republicanism, eighteenth-century English and Scottish Enlightenment thought, and “above all” Revelation. Continue Reading...

6 quotes to help reflect on Captive Nations Week

On Tuesday, President Obama declared this week Captive Nations Week. The first Captive Nations Week was in 1959, proclaimed by President Eisenhower to call attention to the oppression of several countries in the Soviet Bloc and to encourage Americans to support fight for democracy and liberty worldwide. Continue Reading...