Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'Free Market Economics'

May 20, 2026

Free Trade and the Rule of Law

Imagine a neighborhood that has experienced high crime rates for years. A local “neighborhood watch” group forms, but it only talks about resolutions without taking any action. Criminals are found guilty but then immediately released back onto the streets to continue their illicit activities. Continue Reading...
April 28, 2026

The Economic End of History

The final dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 heralded the victory of Western democratic societies over communism and the ideologies of collectivism. Proponents of the market economy now had definitive proof that central economic planning cannot outperform a decentralized market order, in terms of creating goods that people value and distributing them in a timely, efficient manner. Continue Reading...
April 09, 2026

The Merchant Who Became a Saint

The figure of Omobono of Cremona occupies a peculiar place in Catholic history and Christian moral imagination. He is neither a monk nor a prince, neither a martyr nor a theologian, but a working merchant in a city whose life was already shaped by money, exchange, and competition. Continue Reading...
March 10, 2026

How Sabbath Laws Reveal the Moral Logic of Markets

Modern arguments about wealth and inequality often presuppose that Scripture offers little guidance beyond a general call to generosity, after which technocrats may improvise distribution schemes according to political fashion. Consequently, biblical economics becomes a set of pious slogans rather than a coherent moral vision. Continue Reading...
February 11, 2025

Reflecting the Mind of God in Mere Economics

“The fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Spanish Scholastics … correctly reasoned that God was not going to leave the social world a chaotic mess. They recognized a ‘humane science’ reflecting the mind of God while rendering the social world intelligible. Continue Reading...
October 15, 2014

In Memoriam: Leonard Liggio (1933-2014)

The Acton Institute, and the free market movement, lost a great friend yesterday with the death of Leonard Liggio, the “Johnny Appleseed of Classical Liberalism.” Writing for Forbes, Acton board member Alejandro Chafuen described Liggio’s “deep and encyclopedic historical knowledge” and how he fruitfully brought that to bear on many projects and institutions. Continue Reading...
March 20, 2013

Video: Rev. Sirico on Avoiding Economic Disaster

The Montreal Economic Institute produces a “Free Market Series” of videos interviewing experts such as Michael Fairbanks and Steve Forbes. This video highlights the Rev. Robert Sirico discussing the role of free markets in economics, and the false sense of utopia offered by other economic systems. Continue Reading...