Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'economics'

Why I Slept on the Streets for a Year

Poverty has always been part of my life. First, in my own family: we were considerably poor, and I spent my entire childhood surrounded by poverty. Over the years, while pastoring a church and training new pastors at seminary, I became involved in relief projects for those who were even poorer than I was. Continue Reading...

Four Economic Lessons from Plato’s Republic

When we consider the origin of the fundamental principles of economics, most of us think of Adam Smith and his Wealth of Nations. Smith arguably pioneered economics as its own discipline with this groundbreaking articulation of the workings of the free market. Continue Reading...

An Economist’s Summer Reading List

It’s summer and you know what that means: it’s time to ice your latte or lemonade, head to the porch, and catch up on your reading. For those who’ve attended Acton University before, you know the staff curates an impressive collection of books for sale. Continue Reading...

The Fallacy of Fairness: Sowell’s Critique of Modern Social Justice

Officially retired and well into his 90s, Thomas Sowell shows no signs of intending to stop helping the world understand social questions at the intersection of politics and economics. The keys to comprehending the entirety of Thomas Sowell’s writings lie in three pivotal texts: Say’s Law, A Conflict of Visions, and Knowledge and Decisions. Continue Reading...

Over-Regulation Is Strangling Panama—and the U.S.

Beginning in mid-October, Panamanian activists, led by the militant leftist labor union SUNTRACS, brought much of Panama to a standstill, blocking roads and filling Panama City with daily demonstrations against a copper-mining contract with Canadian firm First Quantum. Continue Reading...