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December 12, 2013

When it Comes to Economic Freedom, Where Does Your State Rank?

The Fraser Institute has released the ninth edition of their annual report on economic freedom in North America. The report considers how such factors as size of government, takings and discriminatory taxation, and labor market freedom affect people’s freedom to choose how to produce, sell, and use their own resources, while respecting others’ rights to do the same. Continue Reading...
December 12, 2013

Conscience Is Key To Business, But Only The ‘Correct’ Kind

Business, we are told, is supposed to have a conscience to survive. For instance, Chad Brooks at Fox Business says that businesses have to be “socially conscience” in order to attract customers: Young consumers consider social responsibility most when shelling out big bucks for products such as automobiles, computers, consumer electronics and jewelry, the study found. Continue Reading...
December 11, 2013

7 Great Books for Christmas

This short list of books is meant to avoid the obvious works one might find in a Christmas list. So I’ve omitted great works like A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Continue Reading...
December 11, 2013

When It Comes to Eagle-Killing, Cronyism Trumps Religious Liberty

There are currently two sets of laws in America: laws that apply to everyone and laws that apply to everyone except for friends of the Obama administration. In January I wrote about how the executive branch had argued that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 should be broadly interpreted in order to impose criminal liability for actions that indirectly result in a protected bird’s death. Continue Reading...
December 11, 2013

Remembering Business and Rebuilding the City

  Several months ago, in the wake of Detroit’s bankruptcy and the flurry of discussions surrounding it, Chris Horst and I co-wrote a post on how Christians mustn’t forget or neglect the role of business in our attempts to rebuild, restore, and reinvigorate failing cities. Continue Reading...
December 11, 2013

The Secret Ingredient for Effective Healthcare Reform

In today’s Acton Commentary I explore how our hyper-regulated and increasingly statist healthcare system is chasing off good physicians. A recent article in Forbes by Bruce Japsen provides some additional support for that argument: Doctor and nurse vacancies are approaching nearly 20 percent at hospitals as these facilities prepare to be inundated by millions of patients who have the ability to pay for medical care thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Continue Reading...
December 11, 2013

Tea Party Catholic: Can Catholics Save the American Experiment?

Giovanni Patriarca recently sat down with Acton Research director, Samuel Gregg, to discuss his latest book, Tea Party Catholic. Patriarca, Acton’s 2012 Novak Award winner, began by asking Gregg what the “most alarming and peculiar aspects” are of America losing its “historical memory” and running the “risk of deconstruction of its own identity.” Continue Reading...