technology

July 26, 2017

The political implications of bitcoin

Prior to the publication of John Maynard Keynes’ The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, balanced budgets reflected the received wisdom for governments. By making the case for debt spending in times of recession (and the virtually ignored case for restricting spending in times of growth), Keynes gave political leaders a license to abandon the requirement of balance. Continue Reading...

July 12, 2017

When a labor union gets upset about job-stealing goats

While the rest of nation continues to fret about various threats to labor demand — whether from technology, trade, or immigration — an influential labor union is worrying about goats. Yes, goats. Continue Reading...

April 05, 2017

Hillbilly experts: Economic optimism from Appalachia

It seems like every day we hear the siren calls of a coming end of jobs. A new report out of the PwC says that 38% of all jobs in America are at risk of being automated. Continue Reading...

February 23, 2017

DonorSee: A charity app that challenges ‘Big Aid’

For far too long, Westerners have simply accepted the status quo of foreign aid, building ever-larger systems and programs for global charity even as they’re proven to squander resources and disempower the very communities they intend to assist. Continue Reading...

January 10, 2017

How markets link the world

Note: This is post #16 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. Ten years ago this week, Apple unveiled the iPhone. It’s a product that was designed in California and produced by thousands of people all over the world. Continue Reading...

December 22, 2016

The magic of the washing machine

What was the greatest invention of the industrial revolution? Hans Rosling makes the case for the washing machine. Rosling explains how the productivity gains of the washing machine—and similar labor-saving devices—lead to increases in education and economic growth in the developing world. Continue Reading...

December 08, 2016

6 Quotes: John Glenn on faith, service, and government

John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, died today at the age of 95. Glenn was a U.S. Marine, a pilot, engineer, astronaut, and United States Senator from Ohio. Continue Reading...

August 03, 2016

What Eric Whitacre’s ‘virtual choir’ teaches us about globalization and community

The rise of globalization and the expansion of trade are continuously decried for their disruptive effects, particularly as they apply to “authentic community.” Indeed, our strides in global connectedness have often come at a local cost, with the small and familiar being routinely replaced by the big and blurry, the intimate with the superficial, and so on. Continue Reading...

August 28, 2015

Rev. Robert Sirico: Dialogue With Pope Must Include Free Markets

In today’s Roll Call, Acton Institute president Rev. Robert Sirico comments on Pope Francis’ September visit to the U.S. and what may be part of the dialogue when the pope is here. Continue Reading...

July 06, 2015

Pope’s Encyclical: Eschew Air Conditioning?

I know why Victorian women fainted so much. They were too hot – literally. Wearing layers and layers of clothes, corseted to the point of not being able to breath, attempting to make merry in rooms draped and swathed and festooned with velvet furniture and bric-a-brac. Continue Reading...

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