economic development

July 20, 2017

Approaching climate change at Acton University

How should we respond virtuously to the issue of climate change? During his lecture at Acton University on June 23, Jay Richards wrestled with this question before a nearly packed room. Continue Reading...

May 10, 2017

Development malpractice: When failure in ‘doing good’ is worse than ‘doing nothing’

What happens when governments, NGOs, charities, and churches all converge in scurried attempts to alleviate global poverty, whether through wealth transfers or other top-down, systematic solutions? As films like PovertyCure and Poverty, Inc. Continue Reading...

September 09, 2016

The idea equation for economic growth

The key to creating economic flourishing is economic growth and the key to creating long-term economic growth is to create new ideas. But what is the key to creating ideas that lead to innovation? Continue Reading...

August 23, 2016

The global poor’s exclusion from markets

It’s a common misconception in public discourse that the global poor are trapped in poverty because of globalization. We frequently hear things from our public leaders about how markets are crushing the poor. Continue Reading...

July 25, 2016

Does Microfinance Help the Poor?

This week at the Institute for Faith, Work and Economics, contributor James Clark asked, “Can microfinance really help the poor?” His conclusion: yes microfinance can work, but with certain caveats. In the last decade, microfinance has become a popular strategy in poverty alleviation, yet many economists and philanthropists often call its effectiveness into question. Continue Reading...

July 05, 2016

Community and Economic Development: Transforming Our Cities Through Love

Growing up impoverished in the Grand Rapids area himself, Justin Beene brings a unique perspective to his lecture on Community and Economic Development. He has seen first-hand the good intentions behind top-down investing to eliminate poverty and racial injustice, and the consequential damage wreaked upon such communities. Continue Reading...

January 07, 2016

Most Americans Aren’t Prepared for a $1,000 Unexpected Expense (But You Can Be)

The good news is that the pinging sound your car’s engine was making for the last month has finally stopped. The bad news is that the sound stopped because the engine stopped working. Continue Reading...

December 22, 2015

The Most Important (Good) News Story of 2015

From mass shootings to terrorist attacks, political incompetence to racial unrest, there has been no shortage of bad news stories in 2015. Death, destruction, and divisiveness tend to dominate the news cycle, leading us to despair over the direction our world is headed. Continue Reading...

December 14, 2015

Why Poverty Figures Can Be Misleading

What if told you that between 90-100 percent of Americans are living in “healthcare poverty.” You would probably object and say that while the country certainly has a healthcare crisis, my numbers are surely inflated. Continue Reading...

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