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

October 30, 2006

Love of God and the Free Market

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy will be holding a theological conference on the subject of “Economy: Love of God, Production, and the Free Market.” Taking place tomorrow (Tuesday), you can either follow it live or read the proceedings later at the dicastery’s web site. Continue Reading...
October 26, 2006

Death of a Dictator

Otto Reich at NRO claims that Cuban tyrant Fidel Castro is dead, or soon will be. That has been suspected for some time, but Reich says that funeral arrangements are now definitely in the works. Continue Reading...
October 20, 2006

Not as Sick as You Think

In a Townhall.com column yesterday, George Will coined a term that deserves widespread use: economic hypochondria. He criticizes the way in which the media—and many of us, even though relatively “healthy,” financially—pounce on every bit of news that might be interpreted as indicating economic hardship. Continue Reading...
October 17, 2006

Baby Market Follow-up

I wrote disparagingly of a developing “baby market” in a recent Acton commentary. The phenomenon is described in much fuller detail by Cheryl Miller in The New Atlantis in the course of her review of a recent book by Debora L. Continue Reading...
October 11, 2006

Linker and Douthat on Theocons

A while ago, I reported Damon Linker’s turn against his erstwhile colleagues at First Things. Now The New Republic online (free registration required) features an unusually productive and revealing debate between Linker and Atlantic Monthly‘s Ross Douthat on the threat, or lack thereof, posed by “theocons” such as Richard John Neuhaus (and the Acton Institute?). Continue Reading...
October 05, 2006

Judge-ing Sullivan

Anyone familiar with the history of conservative thought and politics in the United States knows that there have always been tensions among various strains of the “movement,” not least that between traditional Christians and secular libertarians. Continue Reading...
September 29, 2006

Treading Water on Social Security

According to Census Bureau estimates, the population of the United States will hit 300,000,000 sometime in the next couple weeks. Discussion of the significance of this demographic milestone, such as the latest issue of US News & World Report brings to mind a related topic: social security. Continue Reading...
September 26, 2006

The Inevitable Loophole

On yet another day in a long season of bad news for Catholic schools in major urban areas, Chicago’s historic high school seminary is slated to close. Michael J. Petrilli addresses the broader context of the problem in this analysis on NRO. Continue Reading...
September 21, 2006

Proportionalism Critique

The debate has not been confined to Catholic circles, but it has been concentrated there. Many (most?) American Catholic moral theologians of the post-Vatican II era have been enamored with one form or another of “proportionalism,” a theory of morality that eschews the traditional Catholic focus on the “intrinsic” goodness or badness of human acts. Continue Reading...
September 13, 2006

Moral Business

Profit is a valid motivation for business and, generally speaking, a company that pursues profits within the bounds of law and morality will be fulfilling its purpose admirably. But profit is an instrumental good rather than a final good, and so there are sometimes extraordinary circumstances that place additional moral obligations on business. Continue Reading...