Toward a Civilization of Love

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I offer this wonderful bit from Jennifer Roback Morse’s transformational book, Love and Economics, in which she observes a particular vacancy in modern discourse and policymaking: Economics has been a successful social science because it focuses on things that are true: human beings are self-interested and have the capacity for reason. Continue Reading...

The Mirage of Disability

Annette Gabbedy is a business owner and expert designer and goldsmith. She was also born without fingers, a disposition many might consider a “disability,” particularly in her line of work. Yet, as you’ll see in the following video, having created and traded her wares for 23 years, Gabbedy sees no reason for this to inhibit her creativity and contribution to society. Continue Reading...

Donald Miller’s Lopsided Theology of Work

When it comes to theology of work, the church has enjoyed a healthy season of self-critique and introspection. Sermons, books, and seminars abound. Dead theologians and forgotten works are routinely remembered and resurrected, challenging a host of our modern assumptions about wealth, exchange, and the nature of work itself. Continue Reading...

Hobby Lobby Owners Speak Out on HHS Mandate

In a new video from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the Green Family, owners of the embattled retail chain, Hobby Lobby, discusses the religious foundation of their business and the threat the federal government now poses to those who share their beliefs. Continue Reading...

A Challenge to ‘Work-Life Balance’

Upon the recent birth of our third child, I took a brief “vacation” from “work” (quotes intended). The time spent with family was special, joyous, and fulfilling, yet given the extreme lack of sleep, the sudden rush of behavioral backlash from Toddler Siblings 1 and 2, and a host of new scarcities and constraints, it was also a whole heap of work. Continue Reading...

The Seen and Unseen Effects of the Minimum Wage

Given the recent and wide-ranging discussion here on the PowerBlog surrounding the the minimum wage (Hunter Baker, Joe Carter, Jordan Ballor, Elise Hilton, yours truly), this short little video offers a nice overview of the seen and unseen effects of such an instrument. Continue Reading...

Four Christian Traditions on Faith, Work, and Economics

Through Christian’s Library Press, the Acton Institute has published four tradition-specific primers on faith, work, and economics, including Wesleyan, Pentecostal, Baptist, and Reformed perspectives. In a new video filmed by the Oikonomia Network, three contributors to the series discuss their respective approaches, examining a variety of commonalities and distinctions along the way. Continue Reading...