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

July 27, 2007

Call of the…

Garbling difficult (and sometimes easy) words is a common and often humorous occurrence among children, as any parent can attest. My daughter did so serendipitously the other day, pronouncing Acton’s film production as “The Call of the Entre-manure.” Continue Reading...
July 20, 2007

New books update

Bringing to your attention two recent publications by Journal of Markets & Morality contributors: The first is Less Than Two Dollars a Day: A Christian View of World Poverty aand the Free Market, by Kent Van Til, published by Eerdmans. Continue Reading...
July 10, 2007

Africans to Bono: “Stop!”

Here’s a great story by Jennifer Brea touching on a lot of favorite Acton topics. Brea observes that many Africans are getting wise to the fact that Western direct aid may be hurting more than helping their continent. Continue Reading...
June 29, 2007

Vatican Statement on … Chocolate?

Well, not exactly. Althought Archbishop John Foley, President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications—and a “self-proclaimed ‘chocoholic'”—did address a gathering of Nestle executives on the subject of the morality of advertising. Continue Reading...
June 21, 2007

Medical Malpractice and Abortion

I thought this was an interesting bit at the intersection of morality and economics. An insurance brokerage firm, K&B Underwriters, is sponsoring a physicians’ survey designed to determine whether doctors who work within a “culture of life” framework (e.g., Continue Reading...
June 15, 2007

Faith and Business

That religion can be big business is not news to anyone. But this Zenit analysis by Fr. John Flynn is an especially good synopsis of the current state and size of the “Christianity market” in the United States. Continue Reading...
June 07, 2007

Eurabia or God’s Continent?

One of my favorite historians of religion, who has recently acted more as a contemporary observer of religion than an historian, is Philip Jenkins of Pennsylvania State University. His newest book, God’s Continent, takes on the grimmer views of where Europe is headed. Continue Reading...
May 29, 2007

Vatican going green

Or so reports Catholic News Service today. In and of itself, the item is not that big a deal: The Vatican will be installing solar panels atop the Pius VI Hall, where the pope holds his general audiences. Continue Reading...
May 11, 2007

Scientists against technology

An addendum to my Wedesday commentary, in which I highlighted the positive ecological role human beings play by developing new technologies: Joel Schwartz at NRO draws attention to the fact that there are some scientists who, for various possible reasons, actually oppose the development of technology that minimizes or reverses the impact of human activity on the environment (called, with respect to climate change, geoengineering). Continue Reading...