Latest Posts

January 25, 2017

Radio Free Acton: Avik Roy on how to transcend Obamacare

On this edition of Radio Free Acton, we’re joined by Avik Roy, Opinion Editor at Forbes magazine and the founder and president of The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. He’s been an insightful critic of the health care reform process in the US since Congress began debating the legislation that we now know as Obamacare in 2009. Continue Reading...
January 24, 2017

Lessons from India’s ‘private city’

Given the acceleration of urbanization around the world, many are wondering how local governments and city planners will keep up with the pace. While advocates of free markets routinely argue for fewer top-down restrictions and more privatization of local services, others argue for increased controls and more advanced central planning. Continue Reading...
January 24, 2017

Turkey imprisons American pastor for ‘terrorism’

A pastor and North Carolina native is being held in Turkey on unsubstantiated charges of terrorism related activity. After more than 20 years of serving as an evangelical missionary in Turkey, Andrew Brunson, 48, thought he was being summoned to receive a long-awaited permanent residence card. Continue Reading...
January 24, 2017

Audio & Video: Sirico & Bonicelli on the Trump Administration

As the Trump Administration begins its work this week, the media continues to call on the Acton Institute for analysis and commentary, both in the US and abroad. Internationally, Acton Director of Programs and Education Paul Bonicelli joined host Alex Jensen on tbs eFM 101.3’s “This Morning” program in Seoul, South Korea on January 22nd to discuss the economic challenges facing the incoming administration, and the likelihood of potential trade conflicts between the United States and other nations down the road based on the protectionist rhetoric from Trump both on the campaign trail and during the presidential transition. Continue Reading...
January 24, 2017

How information and incentives solve economic problems

Note: This is post #18 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. To solve economic problems we need to solve information and incentive problems. In this video, Alex Tabarrok looks at how Nobel Prize-winner Friedrich Hayek described the price system and its approach to solving the information problem. Continue Reading...
January 24, 2017

Video: Avik Roy on the end of cultural conservatism as we know it

Bill Buckley and Russell Kirk were leaders in building a movement of cultural conservatism to counter the dominant strain of liberalism that governed American politics following World War II. This movement would eventually lead to the presidency of Ronald Reagan and the end of the Cold War, as well as the rise of Republican congressional leadership in the 1990s and following. Continue Reading...
January 23, 2017

Explainer: What you should know about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

Earlier today, President Trump took action to formally abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Here is what you should know about the agreement and why it matters. What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership? Five years in the making, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was a trade agreement between the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, Chile, Brunei, Singapore, and New Zealand. Continue Reading...