Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'economic development'

Bill Gates on Poverty and Inequality

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Bill Gates — the richest man in the world — shares his thoughts on poverty and inequality: Should the state be playing a greater role in helping people at the lowest end of the income scale? Continue Reading...

Does Advocating Limited Government Mean Abandoning the Poor?

Does promoting limited government require abandoning a commitment to the poor? Ryan Messmore, whose answer is a firm “no”, argues that non-government institutions can provide personalized assistance to help individuals fix relational problems, overcome poverty and lead healthy lives: Calls for limited government are often mistakenly equated with a disregard for people in need. Continue Reading...

Should We Be Eating More Bugs?

Our planet contains about forty tons of bugs for every human, says Helena Goodrich, offering and “ongoing ‘all you can eat” insect buffet.” While snacking on cicadas probably won’t catch on in the U.S. Continue Reading...

Bono, Babel, and the Myth of Economist as Savior

Bono, lead singer of U2 and co-founder of charity-group ONE, recently offered some positive words about the role of markets in reducing global poverty and spurring economic development (HT): The Irish singer and co-founder of ONE, a campaigning group that fights poverty and disease in Africa, said it had been “a humbling thing for me” to realize the importance of capitalism and entrepreneurialism in philanthropy, particularly as someone who “got into this as a righteous anger activist with all the cliches.” Continue Reading...

ResearchLinks – 09.28.12

Article: “Big Questions and Poor Economics” James Tooley. “Big Questions and Poor Economics: Banerjee and Duflo on Schooling in Developing Countries.” Econ Journal Watch 9, no. 3 (September 2012): 170-185. In Poor Economics, MIT professors Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo set out their solutions for global poverty. Continue Reading...

PBR: Enterprise and Interdependence

It is our pleasure to welcome guest ramblings on the PowerBlog, and we are happy to feature this contribution from Catherine Claire Larson, author of As We Forgive, the subject of this week’s PBR question. Continue Reading...

Carbon Dioxide’s Day in Court

The Supreme Court is hearing a case today brought by 12 states and a coalition of environmental groups that sued the Bush administration in 2003 for refusing to issue regulations limiting carbon emissions. Continue Reading...