Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Business and Society

January 06, 2016

Cultural Stewardship and Institutional Scrutiny

In today’s Acton Commentary, I have some further reflections on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The basic thrust of the piece is to encourage institutional thinking. We should expect that humans are going to institutionalize their goals because humans are natural institution builders, or culture makers. Continue Reading...
December 08, 2015

Facebook and the Institutional Forms of Social Good

Over at Think Christian, I take a look at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and derive a lesson from Jesus’ interaction with the rich young man in Mark 10. A basic lesson we can take from the decision to organize the initiative as an LLC rather than a traditional non-profit corporation is that pursuing social good is possible in a wide variety of institutional forms. Continue Reading...
September 24, 2015

Entrepreneur Day

Today at the Library of Law and Liberty, I take a cue from probablist Nassim Nicholas Taleb and call for the commemoration of a National Entrepreneurs Day: One has been proposed in the U.S. Continue Reading...
August 03, 2015

The Rise and Fall of a Detroit Neighborhood

If you want to see what happens when a government fails its basic responsibilities of maintaining law and order, read this fine and saddening piece by Detroit Free Press columnist John Carlisle, “The last days of Detroit’s Chaldean Town.”  Continue Reading...
July 02, 2015

Coolidge: The Best President You Don’t Know

This weekend marks the 143rd birthday of the best president you (probably) don’t know: Calvin Coolidge. Most presidents are judged by what they do in office. For instance, they are expected to “do something” about the economy even if their actions are counterproductive and detrimental. Continue Reading...
July 01, 2015

Competition and Infrastructure Stewardship

The state of Michigan is in the midst of something of an infrastructure crisis. We’re consistently ranked as among the states with the worst roads in the nation, something of an embarrassment for what used to be the automotive capital of the US. Continue Reading...
April 30, 2015

The Rationality of Procreation

Birthrates across the globe are going down even as life expectancy increases. The former trend is marked particularly in developed nations. There are lots of reasons for people to have kids or not have kids. Continue Reading...
April 29, 2015

That Time Obama Quoted Luther

This is a post about that time that President Obama quoted Luther (Martin, the reformer, not the anger translator). Okay, maybe the President didn’t quote the monk with a mallet, but suspend your disbelief for a few more paragraphs at least. Continue Reading...