Foreign aid fraud concerns ‘valid,’ says UK chief

The man who oversees the UK’s foreign aid budget says that public concerns about fraud, abuse, and futility associated with international development programs are “valid.” And he plans to fight those perceptions by launching an evangelistic campaign on behalf of the government. Continue Reading...

How much does crime pay?

The claim that “crime doesn’t pay” was an early slogan of the FBI. But while the claim may be a truism in the long run, in the short-term criminal activity can produce an income comparable to the earnings of a middle-class worker. Continue Reading...

The self-defeating nature of sin taxes

Rev. Ben Johnson, senior editor at the Acton Institute, writes at CapX that bishops should refrain from encouraging sin taxes. Recently in Poland, a letter written by bishop Tadeusz Bronakowski was read aloud in many Catholic churches, stating that the “state has a ‘responsibility’ to pass laws limiting alcohol’s ‘physical and economic availability,’ and to back them up with ‘ruthless enforcement.'” Continue Reading...