Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'Business/Finance'

The Complex Tax Code

Today at Capital Commentary I discuss the size and scope of the tax code in the US relative to its basic purposes. In “Back Door Social Engineering,” I argue, “When governments run huge deficits in part because of the complexity of its tax system and the ability of people and institutions to engage in large-scale (and legal) tax avoidance, there is something deeply wrong with the system.” Continue Reading...

Economic Recession and Charitable Giving

I’ve written a fair bit over recent months about trends in charitable giving and Christian tithing. One the latter point, I touched on the importance of tithing in my latest “On the Square” feature at the First Things site. Continue Reading...

Debt and the Demands of Progress

The curious alignment of Good Friday and Earth Day last week sparked much reflection about the relationship between the natural world and religious faith, but the previous forty days also manifested a noteworthy confluence of worldly and otherworldly concerns. Continue Reading...

Samuel Gregg: Business vs. the Market

In a new essay for Public Discourse, Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg explains why we shouldn’t only focus on public sector unions as examples of organizations that seek government power and taxpayer dollars to advance their ends. Continue Reading...

Deficit Denial, American-Style

A new commentary from Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg. Sign up here to get the latest opinion pieces delivered to your email inbox on Wednesday with the free weekly Acton News & Commentary. Continue Reading...

Does your 401K make you an idolator?

Here’s today’s offering from Jim Wallis’ Rediscovering Values for Lent on the Sojourners website: Today, instead of statues, we have hedge funds, mortgage-backed securities, 401(k)s, and mutual funds. We place blind faith in the hope that the stock indexes will just keep rising and real estate prices keep climbing. Continue Reading...

Back to Budget Basics

In this week’s Acton Commentary, “Back to Budget Basics,” I argue that the public debt crisis facing the federal government is such that “All government spending, including entitlements, defense, and other programs, must be subjected to rigorous and principled analysis.” Continue Reading...