Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Economics

December 13, 2017

The numbers game: Has the middle class made any economic progress?

In the Age of Information, we face an overwhelming barrage of high-minded studies and reports that claim to offer the final word on this or that. As it relates to matters of economic policy, we are pressed to lend ever increasing amounts of trust to the power of statistical analysis and the reliability of research from a variety of academics and economic planners and soothsayers. Continue Reading...
December 12, 2017

The cost of Twelve Days of Christmas: $34,558.65

If you’ve been stuck at the mall listening to a song about ten Lords a-Leaping and eight Maids a-Milking you can blame the Jesuits. Rumor has it they invented the Twelve Days of Christmas song as a catechism in code for persecuted Catholics in 16th-century England. Continue Reading...
November 29, 2017

Against canned food drives: When gift-giving is wasteful

During a season such as Christmas, when hyper-consumerism and hyper-generosity often converge in strange and mysterious ways, how much of our gift-giving is inefficient or wasteful? It’s a question that economists continue to ponder, but to which many a gift-giver is prone to shrug. Continue Reading...
November 28, 2017

Why we need the profit system

There is a paradox when it comes to profits, says economist Arnold Kling: while the profits that accrue to any given individual may be unjust, the profit system itself is necessary in order to have a modern, progressive society. Continue Reading...
November 21, 2017

This Thanksgiving, be thankful for the low cost of food

Your Thanksgiving dinner this year may cost less than a meal at your local fast food restaurant. According to an informal price survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation(AFBF), the average cost of this year’s Thanksgiving meal for ten people is $49.12—less than $5 per person. Continue Reading...