Year: 2015

December 17, 2015

Burrito Bomb: Anti-GMO Chipotle Needs a Business Model Reality Check

Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal reported on startup Intrexon Corp.’s efforts to eradicate pests responsible for inflicting “billions of dollars a year in lost revenue and crop-protection expenses.” The pests in question are diamondback moths that wreak havoc on cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower crops, and the efforts involve genetically modifying females of the species so they die before reproducing. Continue Reading...
December 16, 2015

Pastors, Pulpits, and Politics

This week’s Acton Commentary is adapted from an introduction to a forthcoming edited volume, The Church’s Social Responsibility: Reflections on Evangelicalism and Social Justice. The goal of the collection is to bring some wisdom to principled and prudential aspects of addressing the complex questions related to responsible ecclesial word and deed today. Continue Reading...
December 16, 2015

Paris and the low-carbon conceit of climate activism

Regular readers of this space should consider themselves warned. In the wake of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, or COP21), so-called “religious” shareholder activists are intent on ruining investments, crashing the economy and doubling down on their efforts to promote energy poverty throughout the world. Continue Reading...
December 16, 2015

The Economics of Bedford Falls (Part II)

[Note: This is the second post in a series highlighting some of the financial aspects and broad economic lessons of Frank Capra’s holiday classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. You can find part one here and part three here.] Continue Reading...
December 15, 2015

Hope Beyond the Headlines on Millennials and Religion

Some recent headlines: December 15: “Why millennials are leaving religion but embracing spirituality” December 14: “Growing number of Millennials shun religion” December 13: “Millennials and religion: The great disconnect” December 9: “Millennials less likely to be religious than older Americans” This certainly sounds bad. Continue Reading...
December 15, 2015

5 Facts About the Bill of Rights

Today is Bill of Rights Day, a commemoration first established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to cherish the ‘immeasurable privileges which the charter guaranteed’ and to rededicate its principles and practice.” Continue Reading...
December 15, 2015

The Church as Cultural Lifeblood

After years of rejecting or downplaying so-called “organized religion,” evangelicals are beginning to appreciate the church not only as organism, but as institution. As Robert Joustra explains at Capital Commentary, a “minor renaissance in thinking” is taking place, wherein the church is viewed “not as a gathering of hierarchy-allergic spiritualists” but as “a brick and mortar institution, something with tradition, and weight, and history.” Continue Reading...
December 15, 2015

The Economics of Bedford Falls (Part I)

Upon it’s initial release in 1946, Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life was something of a financial flop, failing to reach the break-even point of $6.3 million. Although it was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, it wasn’t until subsequent decades that it became recognized as one of the greatest Christmas film ever made.* Continue Reading...