Acton Occasional Series

October 07, 2015

Chart of the Week: Changes in Extreme Poverty

HumanProgress.org has a fascinating chart that compares the number of people living in extreme poverty (the orange line) with the number of people not living in extreme poverty (the blue line). Continue Reading...

October 07, 2015

Explainer: What You Should Know About the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Accord

What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership? Five years in the making, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a trade agreement between the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, Chile, Brunei, Singapore, and New Zealand. Continue Reading...

October 02, 2015

Unemployment as Economic-Spiritual Indicator — September 2015 Report

Series Note: Jobs are one of the most important aspects of a morally functioning economy. They help us serve the needs of our neighbors and lead to human flourishing both for the individual and for communities. Continue Reading...

September 29, 2015

Explainer: What You Should Know About Government Shutdowns

Are we headed for a government shutdown? Probably not—at least not for a few more months. The Senate is voting today on a “clean” stopgap spending measure that will fund the federal government until Dec. Continue Reading...

September 17, 2015

5 Facts About the U.S. Constitution

Constitution Day is celebrated in America every year on September 17, the anniversary of the day the framers signed the document. Here are five facts you should know about the U.S. Continue Reading...

September 14, 2015

5 Facts About America’s Refugee Policy

Recently a number of religious groups—including some connected to the World Council of Churches and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops—have urged the U.S. government to resettle 100,000 Syrian refugees this coming fiscal year, in addition to increasing the total U.S. Continue Reading...

September 11, 2015