Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'economics'

May 09, 2013

The Market is a Moral Teacher

Does the free market encourage moral behavior? Virgil Henry Storr, Research Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at George Mason University, recently wrote a report called “The Impartial Spectator and The Moral Teachings of Markets.” Continue Reading...
May 09, 2013

Augustine on ‘Spiteful Benevolence’

Yesterday in conjunction with this week’s Acton Commentary I looked at Tim Riggins’ gift of freedom to his brother and the corresponding sense of responsibility that resulted. When Tim takes the rap for Billy, Billy has a responsibility to make something of his life. Continue Reading...
May 07, 2013

Idle Young Americans: Are We Becoming Europe?

If  you’re a young American adult (the 25-to-34 age range), and you have a good job, count yourself blessed. Most of your peers aren’t so lucky. The New York Times reports that “[o]ver the last 12 years, the United States has gone from having the highest share of employed 25- to 34-year-olds among large, wealthy economies to having among the lowest.” Continue Reading...
April 17, 2013

Bitcoin as ‘Super Fiat’ Currency

Joe has done us all a real service in putting together his three part (1, 2, 3) primer on Bitcoin (full PDF here). I am curious, though, what the justification is for referring to Bitcoin as a “commodity” currency. Continue Reading...
April 10, 2013

Crime and the Nanny State

“Crime has been in decline,” says Acton Research Fellow Jonathan Witt, in an article for The American Spectator, “but current government policies are bound to reverse this trend.” Against the backdrop of sluggish growth and high unemployment, one bright spot has been declining crime rates, with levels in the United States now about half what they were 20 years ago. Continue Reading...