Kevin Schmiesing

Kevin Schmiesing, Ph.D., is a research fellow for the research department at the Acton Institute. He is a frequent writer on Catholic social thought and economics, is the author of American Catholic Intellectuals, 1895-1955 (Edwin Mellen Press, 2002) and is most recently the author of Within the Market Strife: American Catholic Economic Thought from Rerum Novarum to Vatican II (Lexington Books, 2004). Dr. Schmiesing holds a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. in history from Franciscan University ofSteubenville. Author of Within the Market Strife and American Catholic Intellectuals, 1895—1955 (2002), he serves as Book Review Editor for the Journal of Markets & Morality. He is also executive director of CatholicHistory.net.

Posts by Kevin Schmiesing

November 16, 2011

Barnett on Sirico and Rediscovering Political Economy

Rediscovering Political Economy is the title of a book recently published by Lexington Books, edited by Joseph Postell and Bradley C.S. Watson, and including an essay by Fr. Robert Sirico. The Spring 2012 issue the Journal of Markets & Morality will feature a review of the book by Tim Barnett, an associate professor of political science at Jacksonville State University. Continue Reading...
October 27, 2011

In Philadelphia, A Model School Kindles Hope

For too long government-run systems have dominated American primary and secondary education. As innovations of the past two decades such as charter schools and vouchers prove, parents, children, and society benefit when government promotes rather than stifles educational reform based on choice and competition. Continue Reading...
September 09, 2011

Guest Review: Schmalhofer on Roberts

The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity Russell Roberts Princeton University Press (2008); 224 pages; $9.69 Reviewed by Stephen Schmalhofer I hated freshman economics at Yale. It was the only C I ever received. Continue Reading...
September 01, 2011

Acton Commentary: School Choice Gains Traction

Political discourse and news media have been consumed of late by talk of debt, spending, and recession, but meanwhile the educational freedom movement has been making real progress. State legislatures across the country are giving a green light to vouchers and tax incentives that will in the future pay impressive dividends in the form of better educated students and more efficient schools. Continue Reading...
June 15, 2011

Budget Morality

My Acton Commentary for this week tries to explain the differences between Christian proponents and opponents of Republican budget proposals: A Circle of Exchange is Better Than a Circle of Protection Strife over the budget in Washington continues, with religious leaders and organizations weighing in on both sides. Continue Reading...
June 02, 2011

Orsini on “Principled Conservatism”

Long-time Acton Institute friend and Markets and Morality contributor Jean-Francois Orsini has a new book out. In Fight the Left (yes, it has a polemical edge!), Orsini argues that there are essentially two approaches to the world: liberalism and conservatism. Continue Reading...
March 09, 2011

Kennedy on CST and Unions

Robert Kennedy, author of Acton’s CSTS volume, The Good that Business Does, weighs in on the Wisconsin/Ohio flap over public sector unions and collective bargaining in this interview with ZENIT. Continue Reading...
January 13, 2011

Health Care Reform Begins at Home

This is the Acton Commentary for January 12. “Americans of all ages, all conditions, and all dispositions constantly form associations,” wrote French observer Alexis de Tocqueville in the 1830s. “If it is proposed to inculcate some truth or to foster some feeling by the encouragement of a great example, they form a society.” Continue Reading...
December 22, 2010

The Age of Uncertainty

If you continue to wonder why the U.S. economy, long after it has shown signs of life and has started to recover from the Great Recession in fits and starts, refuses to take off, here’s a pretty good answer: “Our entrepreneurs have lost faith in the federal government,” says Michael Franc. Continue Reading...