Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'justice'

September 05, 2007

Globalization By Itself is Not Enough

A recent NBER paper, “Distributional Effects of Globalization in Developing Countries,” by Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg and Nina Pavcnik examines some effects of trade liberalization on low-skill workers. Les Picker summarizes the findings, “Not surprisingly, the entry of many developing countries into the world market in the last three decades coincides with changes in various measures of inequality in these countries. Continue Reading...
June 22, 2007

Immigration and Xenophobia

I’m reading David Schmidtz’s Elements of Justice, which is very ably reviewed (although not by me) in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Markets & Morality (10.1). I just read a striking passage, which discusses the merits of a principle of property rights that respects first possession rather than equal shares. Continue Reading...
May 08, 2007

Christians for comprehensive immigration reform

A new initiative pioneered by Sojourners/Call to Renewal is called “Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.” Included in the platform are “calls for bills that would push for border enforcement while improving guest worker programs and offering chances for illegal immigrants to obtain legal status,” according to the NYT. Continue Reading...
April 19, 2007

Lotteries and merit

One of my favorite industries to criticize is the state-run lottery business. Philosopher William F. Vallicella writes the following: “Your chances of a significant win are next-to-nil. But suppose you win, and suppose you manage to not have your life destroyed by your ‘good fortune.’ Continue Reading...
January 16, 2007

ABC’s Nannies & Mommies

One of ABC’s new dramas, Brothers & Sisters, features Calista Flockhart as a hard-hitting conservative pundit named Kitty Walker. Despite its title, the show is not all that family friendly (although it has not yet been rated by the Parents Television Council). Continue Reading...
January 15, 2007

Today is MLK Day

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, and rightly so. Here’s a bit from his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”: How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? Continue Reading...
May 16, 2006

The mandate of the state

In his fragmentary and incomplete Ethics, Dietrich Bonhoeffer examines the reality of the will of God, which he contends come to us from Scripture in the form of four mandates: work, marriage, government, and church. Continue Reading...