Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Free Trade

November 01, 2019

Lord Acton on true liberalism

Early last month there was a great debate over the question “What is Liberalism?” on the Free Thoughts Podcast. The debate was between Helena Rosenblatt, professor of history at City University of New York and Daniel Klein, professor of economics at George Mason University. Continue Reading...
October 16, 2019

Corporate America’s bet on China

In Dan Hugger’s most recent post about the controversy surrounding the NBA’s visit to China, he identifies the crux of the issue: “If even the mildest form of expression of solidarity can provoke the People’s Republic of China to such draconian action as to imperil the well-being of NBA players, why play in China at all?” Continue Reading...
July 15, 2019

Recalling the one lesson: The US-China trade war revisited

Influential thinker Henry Hazlitt argued that the “art of economics” could be distilled to a generally applicable single lesson: looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy [and] tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups. Continue Reading...
July 10, 2019

Time to deep-six the Jones Act?

In the past three years New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts have announced plans to build offshore wind farms that would generate hundreds of megawatts of power. Massachusetts and New Jersey have already awarded building contracts to energy companies and New York is in the process of reviewing bids. Continue Reading...
June 25, 2019

2019 G20 Summit: Tariffs and forbearance

As world leaders from a select group of the largest national economies meet in Osaka at the end of this week, they face increasing volatility and uncertainty around some of the basic principles and institutions that bring together their various peoples in the global marketplace. Continue Reading...
June 17, 2019

Beyond Bolsonaro: A freedom surge in Brazil

Those who argue that the recent victory of President Jair Bolsonaro in the 2018 Brazilian presidential elections represent an authoritarian shift are highly mistaken. On the contrary, liberalism has never been as strong and vibrant in Brazil as it is in the present moment. Continue Reading...
May 23, 2019

Alejandro Chafuen in Forbes: Xi Jinping’s ‘New Long March’

Alejandro Chafuen, Acton’s Managing Director, International, writes today in Forbes of the growing trade war between the United States and China. Chinese president Xi Jinping recently characterized the road ahead as a “new Long March,” in a reference to Mao Zedong’s legendary strategic retreat from Chiang Kai-Shek’s nationalist forces in 1934. Continue Reading...