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October 04, 2017

What is ‘economic man’?

“Intellectuals are often vocal critics of capitalism. Most of them lean left politically, so it is easy to identify anti-capitalism with progressivism,” says Kishore Jayabalan in this week’s Acton Commentary. “It is therefore no coincidence that the modern welfare state has been administered by elites eager to correct supposed market failures on the way to a more egalitarian society. Continue Reading...
October 03, 2017

Sec. DeVos defends school choice in speech at Harvard

In a speech last Thursday at the Harvard Kennedy School, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos made a powerful defense of school choice: One of the many pernicious effects of the growth of government is that its people worry less and less about each other, thinking their worries are now in the hands of so-called “experts” in Washington. Continue Reading...
October 03, 2017

6 ways economic freedom benefits the global poor

Even most critics admit the free market is the greatest wealth-generating system in history, but they say the poor benefit more from interventionist economic systems. In fact, economic liberty elevates the least well-off in more laissez-faire nations to a better position than those living in unfree economies based on such factors as average income, life expectancy, literacy, and other forms of personal liberty. Continue Reading...
October 02, 2017

5 Facts about federal regulations

Vice President Pence will be giving a speech today emphasizing the importance the Trump administration places on reviewing regulatory policy. Today’s date of October 2 was selected to mark the start of the next fiscal year, when federal agencies will be expected to generate below zero dollars in net new regulatory costs. Continue Reading...
September 29, 2017

Lord Acton on conscience: The light of freedom

In the public imagination, Lord Acton is often restricted to his ubiquitous aphorism about power and corruption. This is a pity, as the nineteenth century essayist, historian, and parliamentarian held wide-ranging views about liberty as well-developed as they were penetrating. Continue Reading...