Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'technology'

April 04, 2013

Cell Phones, Microfinance, and Poverty

A recent report by the United Nations states that out of the world’s seven billion people, six billion have a mobile phone, but only 4.5 billion have a modern toilet. In India, there are almost 900 million cell phone users, but nearly 70 percent of the population doesn’t have access to “proper sanitation.” Continue Reading...
February 22, 2013

Innovation is a Moral Obligation

Innovation is an ethical matter through and through, says Chris MacDonald, because ethics is fundamentally concerned with anything that can promote or hinder human wellbeing. Innovation is generally a good thing, ethically, because it is aimed at allowing us to do new and desirable things. Continue Reading...
February 07, 2013

Privilege: The Real Postal Problem

Regarding the USPS decision Wednesday to stop Saturday mail delivery, Ron Nixon at the New York Times writes, The post office said a five-day mail delivery schedule would begin in August and shave about $2 billion a year from its losses, which were $15.9 billion last year. Continue Reading...
October 10, 2012

The New and Improved AU Online

In case you haven’t already heard the rumor, allow me to fill you in: AU Online has an awesome, newly revamped website and digital learning platform. AU Online is designed to make the resources and tools of a typical Acton conference available through a university-level, online environment. Continue Reading...
July 13, 2012

ResearchLinks – 07.13.12

Conference: “Free Markets with Solidarity and Sustainability: Facing the Challenge” Ethical human agency is only possible with freedom. Freely turning to the good, which the Creator has given us, is the highest sign of human dignity. Continue Reading...
March 05, 2012

The Economics of Contraception

One of the justifications for the HHS mandates (amended now to require insurance companies to provide contraceptives free of charge) has been purely economic. The idea is that the use of contraceptives saves insurance companies (and by extension the rest of us) money, as it is less expensive to pay for condoms or birth control pills than to pay for a pregnancy and birth. Continue Reading...
February 20, 2012

Gleaner Technology

Gleaning is the traditional Biblical practice of gathering crops that would otherwise be left in the fields to rot, or be plowed under after harvest. The biblical mandate  for the practice comes from Deuteronomy 24:19, When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. Continue Reading...
January 09, 2012

I, iPhone

The latest episode of This American Life follows the story of Mike Daisey and his investigation into the origins of Apple products, especially the iPhone which is “Made in China.” What might the iPhone say if it could speak for itself? Continue Reading...