The world is an economics classroom if we allow ourselves to learn from it. Every day we’re bombarded with puzzles that the economic way of thinking can help solve. One of the more recent examples of this is the infant-formula shortagethat plagued an industry already confounded by pandemic-related supply chain issues. Continue Reading...
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August 02, 2022
A Reply to David Brooks: Don’t apologize for capitalism
In recent weeks, the New York Times has been running opinion pieces in which various columnists expound on a topic about which they have changed their views. On July 21 it was David Brooks’ turn to lay out his mea culpa. Continue Reading...
July 29, 2022
What’s the point of working anymore?
Is there any value to work in today’s world? This is a question that many in Generation Z find themselves asking.
I started working at a very young age. By 12 years old, I already had two part-time jobs plus a side business of my own. Continue Reading...
July 28, 2022
Abolishing blasphemy laws in Pakistan will lead to more violence
Blasphemy laws pose a real challenge to religious liberty and democracy in several Muslim-majority countries, with 32 nations criminalizing blasphemy; in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Brunei, Mauritania, and Saudi Arabia, it is punishable by death. Continue Reading...
July 27, 2022
After Boris: More of the same or a different direction?
We’re down to the final two candidates: Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. The next prime minister of the United Kingdom with be either our third female premier (all Conservative) or the nation’s first ethnic Indian (and Hindu) leader. Continue Reading...
July 26, 2022
Dave Chappelle is the greatest comedian in America. Just ask him.
The best comedian America has produced in the post–Cold War era is Dave Chappelle, and if you listen to his new Netflix show, What’s in a Name: Speech at Duke Ellington School of the Arts, he’ll tell you that himself. Continue Reading...
July 22, 2022
It’s time to reform foreign aid
When we speak of good intentions, foreign aid comes immediately to mind. It will come as no surprise to Acton readers that sound economics are not always attached to those intentions. Continue Reading...
July 21, 2022
The end of Roe is the beginning of new life for citizens and their duties
Weeks after the Supreme Court’s landmark 6-3 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), which held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion, the nation is still struggling to come to grips with its consequences. Continue Reading...
July 20, 2022
The Survivor asks something of its audience
Barry Levinson is 80. The Oscar-winning writer-director has played a part in several of the best movies and TV shows of the past half century—and a few of the worst.
That pattern of mixing abominable stinkers with memorable successes has continued into the past decade. Continue Reading...
July 19, 2022
Government regulation of the market is more to be feared than Amazon or Google
The popular view of the recent NBA Finals is that the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors competed for the title of best team. The nation’s best basketball players traded points, victories, and fouls on the way to the Warriors pulling off the final victory. Continue Reading...