Sociology

March 24, 2015

The Greatest ‘Privilege’ In America? Get Married, Stay Married

There is a lot of talk about “privilege” in our nation: white privilege, the privilege of the “1%,” privilege of living in one school district versus another. Yet, the greatest “privilege” in America is hardly ever mentioned. Continue Reading...

February 23, 2015

What Patricia Arquette Should Have Said About the Wage Gap and Women’s Rights

During last night’s Oscar ceremony, Best Supporting Actress winner Patricia Arquette used her acceptance speech to rail against unfair pay for women: To every women who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. Continue Reading...

February 10, 2015

How Christianity Gave Us the Modern World

“Christianity undergirded the development of Western liberalism (in the old, good sense of the word),” says Rich Lowry. In fact, without Christianity there would probably not be anything like what we conceive as true liberty: The indispensable role of Christianity in the creation of individual rights and ultimately of secularism itself is the subject of the revelatory new intellectual history Inventing the Individual by Larry Siedentop. Continue Reading...

January 21, 2015

3 Disturbing Facts About the Social Mobility of Black Americans

One of the most important important socio-economic factors in America is also one of the least talked about: social mobility. Social mobility is the ability of an individual or family to improve (or lower) their economic status. Continue Reading...

January 21, 2015

Redistribution and the State of the Union

Today at Think Christian I reflect on President Obama’s State of the Union message last night. I think it was perhaps the best speech I have heard him give in terms of delivery and general tone. Continue Reading...

December 03, 2014

Where Does Your State Rank on Economic Freedom?

The Fraser Institute has released the tenth edition of their annual report on economic freedom in North America. The report considers how such factors as size of government, takings and discriminatory taxation, and labor market freedom affect people’s freedom to choose how to produce, sell, and use their own resources, while respecting others’ rights to do the same. Continue Reading...

December 01, 2014

Moral Capital and the Rule of Law

“If we want to be coherent when addressing poverty,” writes Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg at Public Discourse, “our concerns can’t be rooted in emotivist or relativistic accounts of who human beings are. Continue Reading...

August 07, 2014

The Connection Between Inequality and Poverty Alleviation

“If there is one thing that religious leaders around the world seem to agree on today,” says Acton research associate Dylan Pahman, “it is the evils of income inequality stemming from a globalized economy.” Continue Reading...

July 17, 2014

What Matters Most for Social Mobility?

Earlier this year I wrote a series of posts explaining 12 principles that generally drive the thinking of conservative evangelicals when it comes to economics. Number 9 on my list was: 9. Continue Reading...

July 11, 2014

How an Excess of Social Capital Can Hurt the Poor

What are the barriers that prevent the poor from moving into the middle class? One surprising answer, says Megan McArdle, is an excess of social capital. In the video below, McArdle explains why understanding how social and financial capital function in low-income communities can help us be more effective in helping then poor. Continue Reading...

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