Michael Matheson Miller is a Senior Research Fellow at the Acton Institute

Posts by Michael Matheson Miller

March 22, 2006

In defense of private property

While there is a general acceptance of the role of private property for social order and economic prosperity, the challenges to private property have not ended. The eminent domain issue is one threat; another comes from environmentalist groups such as the Foundation for Deep Ecology and others who see humans as a drain on the earth and nature. Continue Reading...
March 17, 2006

The white man’s burden

William Easterly, professor of Economics at NYU, has written a new book challenging the prevailing development orthodoxy of increased aid and the “big push” to combat poverty in the Third World. Continue Reading...
March 07, 2006

Aid and the mystery of capital

Bono and the One Campaign want us to sign a petition encouraging the government to spend 1 percent of the U.S. budget for aid to developing countries. The One Campaign states that this would “transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation of the poorest countries.” Continue Reading...
February 21, 2006

Good intentions and unsound economics

This Sunday I went to Mass at a parish I’d never attended before. I was quite pleasantly surprised—the music wasn’t bad, the rubrics were followed, the homily focused on the gospel, they chanted the Agnus Dei, and prayed the prayer to St. Continue Reading...
February 14, 2006

Western Europe’s political homogeneity

Western Europeans often talk about the homogeneity of American politics and how the parties hardly differ from one another. One reason why Europeans believe this is because they often pay attention to US politics only during a presidential campaign, so they do have some justification. Continue Reading...
January 27, 2006

Foreign aid vs. economic freedom II

Jay Richards’ previous post on Richard Rahn’s article “Not Rocket Science” illustrates Huxley’s famous statement about a fact destroying a theory. Jay quotes Rahn’s lists of the politicians and development experts who support increased foreign aid. Continue Reading...
January 23, 2006

A Catholic alternative to Europe’s ‘third way’

Proponents of social democracies claim that a large role for the state is important in tempering the profit motive of capitalism and creating a more humane and cultured state. Free markets, they argue, result in an inhumane and disintegrated society, while the social democracy models of Europe protect the weak and create social cohesion. Continue Reading...