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September 09, 2011

The High Cost of War

Justin Constantine has written an excellent piece on the high cost of war in the Atlantic titled “Wounded in Iraq: A Marine’s Story.” Constantine, who was shot in the head in Iraq, notes in his essay, Blood and treasure are the costs of war. Continue Reading...
September 09, 2011

Samuel Gregg: Obama’s Speech Misses It

Over at National Review Online, a panel of experts reacts to last night’s jobs speech by President Obama. Acton’s director of research, Samuel Gregg, was not encouraged by what he heard: a jumble of disproven Keynesian theories and strong-man rhetoric. Continue Reading...
September 09, 2011

Guest Review: Schmalhofer on Roberts

The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity Russell Roberts Princeton University Press (2008); 224 pages; $9.69 Reviewed by Stephen Schmalhofer I hated freshman economics at Yale. It was the only C I ever received. Continue Reading...
September 08, 2011

Big Labor Dumps Rerum Novarum

Union leaders have been jockeying for position ahead of President Obama’s “jobs speech,” since the proposals he makes will be big opportunities for organized labor. AFL-CIO head Dick Trumka has asked the president to spend with abandon, and has reminded him rather ominously, “This is going to be a moment in history when our members are going to judge him.” Continue Reading...
September 07, 2011

Stewardship and the Prodigal Son

In this week’s Acton Commentary, “Work and Prayer: Of Coins, Sheep, and Men,” I explore what the parable of the Prodigal Son (when read in conjunction with the parables of the Lost Coin and the Lost Sheep) has to teach us about stewardship: Reading these three stories together teaches us many things about the nature of God’s love for us, such that when we were lost, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 NIV). Continue Reading...
September 06, 2011

Jumping the Shark: Hoffa’s Rant and Rerum Novarum

James Hoffa put on quite a performance this weekend—first on CNN’s “State of the Union,” and then in Detroit at a Labor rally with President Obama. Also this weekend, President Biden revealed that the White House seems to have given up and decided America is already a “house divided,” with “barbarians at the gate” in the form of the Tea Party. Continue Reading...
September 06, 2011

Gregg’s Take on Labor Day Debate

Yesterday, five leading Republican candidates participated in the Palmetto Freedom Forum, a serious debate on constitutional principles. Mitt Romney, Michelle Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, and Herman Cain answered questions from Tea Party congressmen Jim DeMint and Steve King, and Princeton professor Robert P. Continue Reading...