Acton Institute Powerblog

Promoting free societies characterized by liberty & religious principles

Maximizing wages, minimizing employment

This is probably not the best move for a state that has been among the worst in the nation in terms of unemployment: “Lawmakers in the Michigan House of Representatives are preparing to vote on a proposed hike in the minimum wage to nearly $7 an hour.” Continue Reading...

Dickens, Diabetes, and Positive-Sum Games

Is it this best or worst of times? Pessimism sells, but the reality of our daily lives makes a case for optimism today and hope for the future. The preponderance of negativity and pessimism in the news makes it easy to believe that the world is at its worst, but my experience and yours can reveal that it may be the best of times. Continue Reading...

The Fallacy of Fairness: Sowell’s Critique of Modern Social Justice

Officially retired and well into his 90s, Thomas Sowell shows no signs of intending to stop helping the world understand social questions at the intersection of politics and economics. The keys to comprehending the entirety of Thomas Sowell’s writings lie in three pivotal texts: Say’s Law, A Conflict of Visions, and Knowledge and Decisions. Continue Reading...

The Sowell of black America

“Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.” —Augustine Thomas Sowell is a towering figure in the liberty movement, certainly the most (in)famous “black conservative” of the 20th century. Continue Reading...

How a Christian restauranteur navigated the pains of a pandemic

The pandemic-era lockdowns caused immeasurable pain to countless businesses, with restaurants experiencing disproportionate levels of pain and suffering. According to the National Restaurant Association, food-service industry sales “fell by $240 billion in 2020 from an expected level of $899 billion,” and by the end of 2020, “more than 110,000 eating and drinking places were closed for business temporarily, or for good.” Continue Reading...

The Suez Canal blockage: a metaphor for our economy

A team of engineers and an unusually high tide freed the Ever Given, the container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for six days, on Monday. Obstructing the canal that facilitates 13% of world’s maritime trade not only educated Americans about the international dimensions of our economy, it also served as a metaphor for the artificial constraints, taxes, and regulations that block so many people from participating in our economy. Continue Reading...