Acton Commentary

December 20, 2017

On the real meaning of Christmas

“Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall,” says Rev. Robert A. Sirico in this week’s Acton Commentary, “but the moral law is written on the tablets of eternity.” In 1776, there were fewer than one billion people on Earth. Continue Reading...

November 15, 2017

Do occupational licensing laws respect human rights?

“Occupational licensing laws harm workers, as well as consumers who purchase services from professionals that require licensure,” says Tyler Bonin in this week’s Acton Commentary. “This harm is disproportionately placed on economically disadvantaged populations. Continue Reading...

November 08, 2017

Edmund Burke’s conservative case for free markets

“Conservatives who believe that free markets are the most optimal of imperfect economic systems thus need to rethink about how to integrate their case for markets into the broader conservative agenda,” says Samuel Gregg in this week’s Acton Commentary. Continue Reading...

October 31, 2017

The further reformation of all of life

“One of the famous formulas to come out of the Reformation era is that of semper reformanda, which means ‘always reforming,’” says Jordan Ballor in this week’s Acton Commentary. “This is a particularly appropriate topic for this observance of Reformation Day, now 500 years after Luther’s publication of the 95 Theses.” Continue Reading...

October 25, 2017

Getting serious about poverty means understanding wealth

“If Christians are serious about improving the lives of the poor,” says William R. Luckey in this week’s Acton Commentary, “we must be serious about understanding the sources of wealth creation.” Continue Reading...

October 11, 2017

Marketers ‘nudge’ us, but should government?

On Monday the University of Chicago’s Richard Thaler won a Nobel Prize for his work in behavioral economics. “Thaler’s work raises important questions about the state’s influence over human action,” says Victor V. Continue Reading...

October 04, 2017

What is ‘economic man’?

“Intellectuals are often vocal critics of capitalism. Most of them lean left politically, so it is easy to identify anti-capitalism with progressivism,” says Kishore Jayabalan in this week’s Acton Commentary. “It is therefore no coincidence that the modern welfare state has been administered by elites eager to correct supposed market failures on the way to a more egalitarian society. Continue Reading...

September 06, 2017

Knowledge, humility and evangelical witness

“On September 1, Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew issued a joint message for the ‘World Day of Prayer for Creation.’” says Rev. Gregory Jensen in this week’s Acton Commentary. “Their statement rightfully reminds us that we all have an ‘obligation to use the Earth’s goods responsibly.’ Continue Reading...

August 30, 2017

Reason, faith, and the struggle for Western civilization

“President Trump’s outspoken defense of Western civilization in his July 2017 Warsaw speech was a pointed reminder that one troubling characteristic of our time is the ongoing assault on the very idea of the West,” says Samuel Gregg in this week’s Acton Commentary. Continue Reading...