Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Economics and Social Problems

March 20, 2020

This Alabama church is offering COVID-19 tests

Given the dramatic disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are reflecting on ways to better love and serve our neighbors during times of crisis. While disciplined social distancing is the obvious first step, we also see a number of ground-up efforts to mobilize congregations and institutions to support the evolving needs of individuals and communities. Continue Reading...
March 19, 2020

How to turn social distancing into love

The most ubiquitous phrase popularized by the coronavirus epidemic, “social distancing,” carries connotations of shunning or anti-social behavior. The isolation of the elderly particularly tugs at our heartstrings. The widely shared photo of 88-year-old Dorothy Campbell speaking through a nursing home’s window to her 89-year-old husband, Gene, poignantly depicts the deep-seated need for human contact amid the obstructions of anti-virus protocols. Continue Reading...
March 18, 2020

Coronavirus and spontaneous order

As the COVID-19 pandemic affects more and more people across the globe, there are many duties that become plain to us as individuals, communities, and citizens. Many workplaces have innovated in response to these challenges, and churches have looked to the past for inspiration to bring hope to our present. Continue Reading...
March 18, 2020

Empty store shelves? Thank price controls

The COVID-19 pandemic panic has caused an eerie, post-apocalyptic scene to become commonplace across the country: supermarkets with barren shelves. One would think that this is the time for an intervention to ensure that stores stay stocked with the things we need, but governors nationwide are taking the opposite approach. Continue Reading...
March 17, 2020

Coronavirus’ greatest threat: our social fabric

Over the weekend, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that her office received 75 complaints of retailers gouging coronavirus-panicked consumers on the price of basic necessities: Stores in Farmington Hills, Dearborn, Ann Arbor and Allendale have been accused of jacking up the price of hand sanitizers, face masks, and rice and lentils by up to 900%. Continue Reading...
February 21, 2020

Three books to help you think like an economist

Everyone knows that there is a difference between knowing about something and knowing how to do something. The first is a superficial way of knowing, not a bad way to begin, but it is no substitute for the mastery which comes by integrating knowledge into experience. Continue Reading...