Culture matters: China’s pre-revolutionary remnants

In our efforts to reduce poverty and spur economic growth, it can be easy to be consumed with top-down policy solutions and debates about the proper allocation of resources. Yet as many economists are beginning to recognize, the distinguishing features of flourishing societies are more readily found at the levels of culture – in our attitudes, beliefs, and imaginations. Continue Reading...

The worst Twitter hack

On Wednesday, July 15, some of Twitter’s most prominent accounts – including those of President Barak Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Apple, and many others – were hacked in an unprecedented Twitter attack. Continue Reading...

How to drain the poison of outrage out of social media

It is a universally acknowledged truth that there are deep-seated problems with social media. Academics have written books against it; once venerable institutions are being torn asunder by it; individuals are being demonized on it; and all the while, we are spending more and more of our lives on it. Continue Reading...

Acton Commentary: Why Bernie Sanders can’t condemn Communist dictators

Bernie Sanders faced political crossfire during the debate in South Carolina on Tuesday night, some of it because he lavished praise on Communist dictators in Cuba, Russia, and Latin America. This week’s Acton Commentary, “The key to understanding Bernie Sanders,” details his history of moral equivalence between Marxist dictators and Western democracies – and explains the socialist reasoning that fuels it. Continue Reading...