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August 28, 2007

Poverty Rate Drops First Time Since 2000

Fox News reports: The nation’s poverty rate dropped last year, the first significant decline since President Bush took office. The Census Bureau reported Tuesday that 36.5 million Americans, or 12.3 percent — were living in poverty last year. Continue Reading...
August 28, 2007

Usury and Market Failure

When the sign for one of those payday lending stores went up on the corner a block away from my house, I have to say I was less than enthusiastic. The standard response in a market economy to “market failure” is for a nonprofit to fill the gap in services or meet the need. Continue Reading...
August 27, 2007

And I Still Haven’t Seen Dime One From Exxon…

It’s been at least a few months since I admitted abandoning all of my principles and ethics in favor of rolling around in great piles of filthy Exxon lucre, and I’ll be honest with you here – I haven’t even gotten so much as a thank you note from Rex Tillerson. Continue Reading...
August 27, 2007

Pensions, Population, and Prosperity

Earlier this month, Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson complained about the lack of creative thinking concerning the issue of social security. “Washington’s vaunted think tanks — citadels for public intellectuals both liberal and conservative — have tiptoed around the problem,” he wrote. Continue Reading...
August 27, 2007

The Call of the Entrepreneur at First Things

Ryan T. Anderson over at the First Things blog, takes a look at the Acton documentary The Call of the Entrepreneur and wonders: Countless movies and sitcoms portray businessmen as greedy, conniving, self-serving agents of exploitation who sully the air, melt the ice caps, and abuse the poor. Continue Reading...
August 27, 2007

Readings on Church and Poverty

This summer I’m working on developing the syllabus for a class that I’ll be helping to lead in the Fall. The course will focus on readings in social ethics, with a general theme on church and culture, and a particular theme on church and poverty. Continue Reading...
August 24, 2007

Myths Christians Believe about Wealth and Poverty

Dr. Jay W. Richards gave an impassioned address at the heavily attended Acton Lecture series yesterday titled, “Myths Christians Believe about Wealth and Poverty.” This topic was especially relevant for me because I graduated from a Wesleyan Evangelical seminary, which constantly preached and proclaimed so many myths Richards addressed, especially “the piety myth.” Continue Reading...