Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Economics

July 16, 2015

Jeb Bush Says Work Harder; Americans Respond By Complaining

  During a recent interview, presidential candidate Jeb Bush outlined his economic plan, which included a goal of achieving 4 percent economic growth. As for how we might achieve that growth, Bush went on to commit a grave and sinful error, daring imply that Americans might need to work a bit harder: My aspiration for the country — and I believe we can achieve it — is 4 percent growth as far as the eye can see,” he told the newspaper. Continue Reading...
July 14, 2015

Pope Economically Confused in Bolivia

Today at the Library of Law & Liberty, I examine Pope Francis’s recent speech in Bolivia, in which he calls for “an economy where human beings, in harmony with nature, structure the entire system of production and distribution in such a way that the abilities and needs of each individual find suitable expression in social life.” Continue Reading...
July 09, 2015

Hard Hearted Lutherans Behind Greece’s Problems?

On the The Economist’s religion and public policy blog, the writer Erasmus pokes holes in a theory put forth by Giles Fraser, a left wing Anglican priest, who sees conflicting theories of the atonement of Christ as one of the causes of so much misunderstanding in the European Union. Continue Reading...
July 09, 2015

Greece: By The Numbers

Greece’s economic problems are so vast, comprehension is difficult. Over at NPR, Greg Myre breaks it down for us. 25: The unemployment rate, and that’s probably low-balling. For those under the age of 25, the unemployment rate hovers around 50 percent. Continue Reading...
June 30, 2015

5 concepts from Frederick Bastiat you should know

Today is the 214th birthday of Frederick Bastiat, one of the greatest political and economic thinkers of the 19th century. Bastiat, a farmer turned politician and pamphleteer, had a inimitable gift for explaining economic and political concepts in way that make them not only understandable but seem downright commonsensical. Continue Reading...
June 29, 2015

Are We Better Off if We Buy Local?

Over the past few decades buying locally produced goods and services over those produced farther away has become increasingly fashionable. However, this “modern” trend is really a reversion to an earlier period when most all products were produced and bought from people in a localized area. Continue Reading...