Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Business and Society

December 23, 2008

The Naughty List

You can view the most recent list of those companies that have received bailout assistance from the federal government via the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA), executed through measures like the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), here (PDF updated 12/16/08). Continue Reading...
December 23, 2008

Ponnuru on Ponzi and Pyramids

Ramesh Ponnuru says Social Security is worse than a Ponzi scheme. He’s right. It’s more like an inter-generational pyramid scheme, a pyramid tipped on its side… To be sustainable, over time (T) it has to take more from more people (thus a three-dimensional pyramid rather than a two-dimensional triangle. Continue Reading...
December 03, 2008

Seeking Stability

At First Things, R.R. Reno posts a thought-provoking analysis tying together the election, the financial crisis, and broader economic and cultural trends. To simplify somewhat crassly, he argues that conservatism promoted and helped to bring about a more dynamic economy; this coupled with the international instability caused by conservatism’s foreign policy to create a widespread desire for stability; and this desire led to popular attraction to the candidacy of Barack Obama, notwithstanding his claim to be an agent of change. Continue Reading...
December 02, 2008

How Obama Can Lead Us to Recovery

I have been part of an email correspondence group for a couple of years now which includes a number of strong public policy thinkers. One of the best is a man named Francis Cianfrocca (aka “Blackhedd”) who writes regularly at Redstate. Continue Reading...
December 01, 2008

The Economic Blame Game

Yesterday’s Grand Rapids Press had an attention-grabbing feature graphic, which highlights an online interactive “game” that gives more information about each of the candidates for the “economic blame game” bracket. Press Graphic/Milt Klingensmith The four brackets are broken down by group, so the four major categories at fault are 1) the financial industry; 2) consumers; 3) government; and 4) inexplicable forces. Continue Reading...
November 07, 2008

10 Questions on Economics and Morality

Posted at the Center for a Just Society (notice courtesy the National Humanities Institute), Dr. Mark T. Mitchell asks a series of questions focused on the intersection between morality and economics in light of the recent financial crisis. Continue Reading...
October 27, 2008

Saving the Free Market

The famous Austrian economist, Joseph Schumpeter, despaired for the future of the free market system. The reason for this despair was that the excess wealth of the system would create educated folks who would turn on the very system that created them. Continue Reading...
October 23, 2008

Nationalization. Catch the Fever!

Everyone seems to be going ga-ga over nationalization in the US these days, and why not? Heck, it seems to be working pretty well for Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. Blast from the not-so-recent past: Maxine Waters on the domestic oil industry… Continue Reading...
October 08, 2008

Feeding the World

There’s an interesting clip on YouTube of a discussion about the world food situation between, primarily, author Michal Pollan and Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant. Pollan is a champion of the “slow food” movement, which is, to simplify, associated more generally with trends such as whole foods, farmers markets (“localvores”), organic food production, etc. Continue Reading...
October 01, 2008

The Common Sense Fix

Dave Ramsey’s got a three step plan to “change the nation’s future.” He’s calling it “The Common Sense Fix” (PDF). Here’s Dave’s prediction: Whichever presidential candidate or political party that champions this plan from their leadership down will likely become the next president. Continue Reading...