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November 16, 2018

Trade, nations, and war in an enlightened age

Between 1776 and 1815, Britain was at peace for just 10 years, notes Samuel Gregg, Acton’s Director of Research. Reading the Scottish defense of free trade without this in mind is a mistake: It’s easy to forget that the tremendous intellectual creativity flowing from the Scottish Enlightenment occurred against a background of war. Continue Reading...
November 15, 2018

Debunking the durable Malthusian myths

On his show yesterday, Rush Limbaugh discussed the famous bet between Julian Simon and Paul Ehrlich in 1980 over the question of whether or not the Earth had sufficient natural resources to sustain the growing global population. Continue Reading...
November 15, 2018

How gratitude transforms our perspective on global trade

The Thanksgiving holiday gives us a unique opportunity to reflect on God’s overwhelming grace, abundance, and provision—spiritually, materially, and otherwise. But amid and throughout those reflections, how often do we pause and consider the relationships, channels, and institutions that God uses in the process? Continue Reading...
November 14, 2018

The intellectual maverick behind Brazil’s conservative wave

The recent victory of the conservative populist Jair Bolsonaro in the Brazilian presidential elections brought the name of the philosopher Olavo de Carvalho to the center of Brazilian political debate. Many have since stated that Carvalho is an intellectual precursor to the populist candidate – as someone who was able to reshape the Brazilian political discussion in ways that cleared an intellectual path for Bolsonaro’s electoral victory. Continue Reading...
November 14, 2018

Russell Kirk: Where does virtue come from?

“How can human society form and raise up virtuous people?” asks Barton Gingerich in this week’s Acton Commentary. As Gingerich notes, Russell Kirk explored this perennial question in a 1982 essay titled, “Virtue: Can It Be Taught?” Continue Reading...