Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Business and Society

November 27, 2013

Amazon, Kmart, and the Moral Limits of Shopping

Good now, sit down, and tell me, he that knows, Why this same strict and most observant watch So nightly toils the subject of the land, And why such daily cast of brazen cannon, And foreign mart for implements of war; Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task Does not divide the Sunday from the week; What might be toward, that this sweaty haste Doth make the night joint-labourer with the day: Who is’t that can inform me? Continue Reading...
November 12, 2013

Bill Gates and ‘Catalytic Philanthropy’

In today’s Wired, Microsoft founder Bill Gates shares his thought on how busines, government and philanthropy can make positive changes in the world. Gates makes it clear that he is pro-capitalism: I am a devout fan of capitalism. Continue Reading...
October 18, 2013

Making The Family Farm Profitable

There is much nostalgia about America’s agricultural past that many seem incapable of releasing. But the reality is forcing a new narrative about the family farm. In an era of globalization and government subsidizing large agribusinesses, family farmers have no choice in the near future but to diversify the use of their land and do something that is actually profitable. Continue Reading...
October 07, 2013

A Failure to Save

This first appeared in my newsletter, Economic Prospect, in late 2008. Looking back after five years I still like it. The American failure to save is matched by our insistence on spending to have it all. Continue Reading...
September 25, 2013

Sachs Misses The Civil Society Mark (Again)

Over at the New York Times, economist Jeffrey Sachs opines about the need for greater measures to “end poverty” in countries across the world where people are truly suffering. Using data from the World Bank, Sachs reports that the proportion of households in developing countries below the extreme-poverty line has declined sharply from 52 percent in 1980, to 43 percent in 1990, 34 percent in 1999, and 21 percent in 2010. Continue Reading...
September 19, 2013

College and the Value of a Paycheck

Over at Think Christian today, I explore the connection between higher education as a means to greater earning power in “The myth of lucrative college majors.” I argue that “the size of a paycheck is not the only factor worth considering,” and go on to detail what a paycheck does and does not represent. Continue Reading...
September 06, 2013

Creating Large Retail Deserts In Washington, D.C.

As politicians continue their surrogate decision-making in the lives of the underclass, Washington, D.C. city politics remain a laboratory for repeated public policy failures. The Washington, D.C. city council recently approved a measure that would create a living wage for workers in the city who are employed by large retailers. Continue Reading...