Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'Business and Society'

November 19, 2007

Rock N Roll ‘Jesus’

Last night the American Music Awards were televised on ABC. Among the big winners were alumni of the hit TV show, “American Idol,” whose stars won 3 AMAs. Kid Rock, the Rock N Roll “Jesus.” Continue Reading...
November 12, 2007

Beyond Being “Boring Old Farts”

I stumbled across this article at David Thompson’s blog, where he notes that the article’s author, Jay Rayner, is pondering “…the whereabouts of dramatic radicalism in an age of state subsidy”: The actor Julian Fellowes, who wrote the script for the Oscar-winning country house whodunit Gosford Park and the book for the stage musical of Mary Poppins, is a good place to start. Continue Reading...
November 01, 2007

Samuelson on ‘The Global Poverty Trap’

Washington Post columnist Robert J. Samuelson discusses a new book on economic history that looks at the poverty problem from the perspective of “nature vs. nurture.” Comes now Gregory Clark, an economist who interestingly takes the side of culture. Continue Reading...
October 24, 2007

Bill Cosby Is Right, Again

Anthony Bradley offers a rave review of the new book published by Bill Cosby and Dr. Alvin Poussaint of Harvard Medical School, Come On People: On The Path From Victims to Victors. Continue Reading...
September 25, 2007

Quran, Money Lending, and Economic Growth

Samuel Gregg, director of research at the Acton Institute, has a piece in today’s Detroit News titled, “Will Quran limit growth of Muslim nations?” The commentary addresses the economic outlook of Muslims, and Islamic nations, considering their religious position against the charging of interest. Continue Reading...
September 19, 2007

On Democratic and Economic Pragmatism

Related to last week’s commentary and blog post, check out this WSJ piece, “Gates Crafts Long-Term Iraq Plan, With Limited Role for U.S. Forces,” in which Defense Secretary Robert Gates says, “My view is that whatever works economically ought to be tried.” Continue Reading...
September 17, 2007

Circus Bailouts vs. Market Correction

In college I wrote a paper for a Latin American Politics class titled, Barnum & Bailey Circus bailouts. The paper took the position that another financial bailout of Mexico would be a huge mistake and would not be money well spent. Continue Reading...
September 17, 2007

Lewis on moral tyranny

Here’s a justly famous quote from C. S. Lewis on why the danger posed by a nanny government can be much more oppressive than that posed by the consolidation of economic power: Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. Continue Reading...
September 12, 2007

Democracy in Iraq

In this week’s Acton Commentary, I examine the (non)necessity of promoting a democratic government in post-invasion Iraq. I haven’t written much on Iraq in this or any other venue, for a number of reasons. Continue Reading...