Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Acton Occasional Series

January 08, 2019

How do we measure inflation?

Note: This is post #105 in a weekly video series on basic economics. Inflation is an average rise in prices. But how exactly is this average rise in prices measured? In this video by Marginal Revolution University, Alex Tabarrok explains how inflation in the United States can be measured using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI)—a weighted average of the price increases. Continue Reading...
December 26, 2018

Explainer: What you should know about the 2018 partial government shutdown

What just happened? On Friday the federal government entered a partial shutdown after the Senate failed to pass a spending bill that includes border wall funding. President Trump refuses to sign any additional funding that does not include $5.1 billion in additional money to pay for an extension of the border wall, allowing him to fulfill his primary campaign promise. Continue Reading...
December 21, 2018

5 Facts about Christmas

Christmas is the most widely observed cultural holiday in the world. Here are five facts you should know about the annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus: 1. No one knows what day or month Jesus was born (though some scholars speculate that it was in September). Continue Reading...
December 18, 2018

How hyperinflation can make you a trillionaire

Note: This is post #104 in a weekly video series on basic economics. Imagine having to pay $417.00 per sheet of toilet paper. That actually happened in Zimbabwe. As Alex Tabarrok notes, around 2000, Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, was in need of cash to bribe his enemies and reward his allies. Continue Reading...
December 17, 2018

Explainer: Christmas 2018 by the numbers

$75 – Average amount U.S. consumers spent on real Christmas trees in 2017. $107 – Average amount U.S. consumers spent on fake Christmas trees in 2017. 27,400,000 – Number of real Christmas trees sold in the U.S. Continue Reading...