Latest Posts

September 28, 2018

The failure of ‘good intentions’ in America’s entitlement state

Amid the flurry of anti-poverty activism gone wrong, we are routinely reminded that good intentions aren’t enough. Although the motives of our hearts often serve as fuel for positive transformation, our corresponding efforts also require reason, wisdom, discernment, and a healthy recognition of real-world ripple effects and constraints. Continue Reading...
September 27, 2018

Business Matters: Meaningful Work in the Modern Age

Like everything else in 2018, business has an emotional and often polarizing effect in our society. There are, of course, legitimate stories of business behaving badly. One high-profile example: the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica debacle that thrust the social media giant into the spotlight with a data breach affecting 87 million users. Continue Reading...
September 26, 2018

Video: Hank Meijer on the global impact of Senator Arthur Vandenberg

Students of 20th century American history know of the importance of the Marshall Plan to the effort to rebuild Europe after World War II, as well as the leading role taken by the United States in building international institutions and alliances that would be central to maintaining peace and checking the expansionist desires of the communist world. Continue Reading...
September 26, 2018

Cuba’s doctor rebellion: ‘You get tired of being a slave’

“You are trained in Cuba and our education is free. Health care is free, but at what price? You wind up paying for it your whole life.” –Dr. Yaili Jiménez Gutierrez In 2013, the World Health Organization brokered a deal through which Cuba would export doctors to Brazil to serve in its poorest and most remote areas. Continue Reading...
September 26, 2018

5 ways the West gets African development all wrong

“In the last few weeks, Africa witnessed two major events that could influence the continent’s economic landscape in the coming decades,” says Ibrahim B. Anoba in this week’s Acton Commentary. First was the visit by British Prime Minister Theresa May and her pledge of $5.1 billion in investments continent-wide, as the UK prepares for life after Brexit. Continue Reading...
September 26, 2018

Tribalism and the dangers of identity economics

Occasioned by some local controversy over a political endorsement by the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, in the Detroit News today I have a piece worrying about the implications of what might be called ‘identity economics,’ or “where we only agree to economic transactions with those who agree with us on an ever-growing list of moral or even political shibboleths.” Continue Reading...