Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Acton Occasional Series

August 01, 2019

5 Facts about food stamp programs

Last week the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed a measure it claims will close a loophole that allows states to make participants receiving minimal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits automatically eligible to participate in USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Continue Reading...
July 24, 2019

Explainer: What you should know about federal deficits

What just happened? The White House Office of Management and Budget recently released a forecast that the federal deficit would exceed $1 trillion this year. As Fox News points out, this would be the first time since the four years following the Great Recession that the deficit reached that level. Continue Reading...
July 09, 2019

How fiscal policy can lead to ‘crowding out’

Note: This is post #128 in a weekly video series on basic economics. Effective fiscal policy has to be timely, targeted, and temporary. But how the central bank, businesses, and consumers respond to fiscal policy also plays a role in how effective it is, says economist Alex Tabarrok. Continue Reading...
July 03, 2019

6 Quotes: Calvin Coolidge on religion and the Declaration of Independence

Tomorrow, for the 243rd anniversary celebration of Independence Day, President Trump will give a speech on the National Mall. As with all such addresses in the modern age, Trump’s remarks will be compared to the presidential gold standard for Fourth of July speeches—Calvin Coolidge’s speech on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Continue Reading...
July 02, 2019

The dangers of fiscal policy

Note: This is post #127 in a weekly video series on basic economics. In the early 2000s, Argentina’s debt reached 150 percent of GDP, leading to what was the largest government default in the history of the world. Continue Reading...