March 20, 2018
March 13, 2018
Trade as fellowship: How tariffs hinder human relationship
As free traders continue to struggle with President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, it can be easy to focus only on the immediate or surface-level effects, whether we’re fretting over a spike in consumer prices, a slowing of economic growth, a decrease in dynamism at home, or a strain on foreign relations abroad. Continue Reading...
March 02, 2018
Milton Friedman debates President Trump on trade
February 28, 2018
Black Panther has something important to offer
In this week’s Acton Commentary I examine the dynamics of marginalization and solidarity in the blockbuster phenomenon Black Panther. As so many commentators have suggested, there’s a lot to this film, and one of the important things it has to offer is a valuable perspective on the underlying unity amidst diversity in humanity. Continue Reading...
February 23, 2018
Isolationism and internationalism in Black Panther
I finally got around to seeing Black Panther last night, and my early reaction echoes so much of the overwhelmingly positive response to the film. As so many superhero tales do, Black Panther weaves together complex ideas within the often deceptively fantastical trappings of science fiction and fantasy. Continue Reading...
January 29, 2018
A real ‘fair trade’ solution: Fix U.S. agricultural policy
In our attempts to support struggling farmers across the developing world, Westerners have tended toward supporting a particular set of preferred “solutions,” whether purchasing “fair trade” products or donating funds to specific causes. Continue Reading...
January 08, 2018
Woodrow Wilson’s radical vision for free trade
November 21, 2017
Post-Brexit, Daniel Hannan champions the moral case for free trade
In the immediate aftermath of the vote for Brexit, conservatives were quick to cheer Britain’s decision, hailing it as a win for freedom, democracy, and subsidiarity. Others, however, were just as eager to claim it was a move driven by fear and protectionism. Continue Reading...
November 03, 2017
Edmund Burke, free marketer
It’s not just millennials and other young people who are souring on free markets (44 percent according to a new poll) — there’s also a growing disenchantment among some conservatives.
Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg explains the conservative angst as rooted, among other things, in the threat that upheaval in market economies presents to the “permanency, order, tradition, and strong and rooted communities.” Continue Reading...
October 18, 2017