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April 13, 2016

Roundup: Samuel Gregg on Pope Francis and Overpopulation, Pope Leo XIII and Modernity, and Constitutional Conservatism

New articles from the indefatigable Samuel Gregg, research director of the Acton Insitute: Amoris Laetitia: Another Nail in the “Overpopulation” Coffin, The Catholic World Report Here the pope signals his awareness of the efforts of various organizations—the UN, the World Bank, the IMF, the EU, particular US administrations—to push anti-natalist policies upon developing nations. Continue Reading...
April 13, 2016

Money and Moral Absolutes

In medieval Europe merchants would often write Deus enim et proficuum (“For God and Profit”) in the upper corners of their accounting ledgers or A nome di Dio e guadangnio (“In the Name of God and Profit”) on partnership contracts. Continue Reading...
April 13, 2016

Rev. Sirico: Pope Francis’s Love Letter to the Family

“What the pope has brought forth is honest, timely and sensitive,” writes Rev. Robert A. Sirico, co-founder and president of the Acton Institute. “Amoris Laetitia explores some complicated pastoral situations that any confessor will know all too well: challenges of how weak and fallen people can authentically live the faith.” Continue Reading...
April 12, 2016

Audio: Samuel Gregg Revisits Regensburg

On Monday evening, Acton Institute Director of Research Samuel Gregg joined host Sheila Liaugminas on Relevant Radio’s A Closer Look to examine Pope Benedict XVI’s Regensburg address as we approach the tenth anniversary of its delivery. Continue Reading...
April 12, 2016

North Koreans face new challenges after they defect

They faced potential starvation, imprisonment, torture, and made a dangerous journey to freedom only to discover new struggles that they never could have comprehended in their former lives. Stories and reports of North Koreans fleeing their country aren’t particularly unusual. Continue Reading...
April 12, 2016

Lex Luthor, Capitalist Villain

In an earlier post I compared the political economy of superheroes in the DC and Marvel universes. And today I have a piece up at The Stream examining the figure of Lex Luthor, the crony capitalist villain featured in Batman v. Continue Reading...
April 12, 2016

Are We Better Off If We Buy Local?

Does spending more money locally keep money in the community, creating jobs and improving the economic situation of our immediate neighbors? Probably not. Economist Don Boudreaux shows that if we bought everything because it was “local” (rather than because it was the best product or service) we would just be voluntarily making ourselves poorer. Continue Reading...