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February 17, 2017

Michael J. Novak, Jr. [1933 – 2017]

Theologian, public intellectual, and close friend of the Acton Institute, Michael J. Novak Jr., passed away last night on February 17, 2017. Acton Institute President Rev. Robert A. Sirico reflects on the passing of his friend and mentor Michael Novak, who through his writings influenced scores of scholars and theologians to recognize the potential of the market economy and the centrality of the dignity of the human person. Continue Reading...
February 16, 2017

The EU: Where cronyism and virtue signaling meet

Despite persistent caricature, corporate titans do not always view government regulators as enemies; they often see them as unwitting collaborators. Big business and the regulatory state go hand-in-hand, according to Michael Gove, a Conservative Party Member of the UK’s Parliament. Continue Reading...
February 16, 2017

Understanding the President’s Cabinet: Labor Secretary

UPDATE: Andy Puzder withdrew his name from consideration yesterday, so we’re updating and reposting this article with the information for the new nominee, Alexander Acosta. Note: This is the fifth in a weekly series of explanatory posts on the officials and agencies included in the President’s Cabinet. Continue Reading...
February 15, 2017

Lord Acton’s judgment on pope and king

“Acton’s ideal of the historian as judge, as the upholder of the moral standard, is the most noble ideal ever proposed for the historian,” says Josef L. Altholz in this week’s Acton Commentary, “and it is an ideal that has been rejected, perhaps with grudging respect, by all historians, including myself.” Continue Reading...
February 14, 2017

5 facts about Frederick Douglass

February 14 is the chosen birthday of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), one of America’s greatest champions of individual liberty. Here are five facts you should know about this writer, orator, statesman, and abolitionist: 1. Continue Reading...