Wilhelm Röpke: An economist against the technicians | New podcast episode: Mark Hall on America's Christian founding
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News & Commentary
Wilhelm Röpke: An economist against the technicians
By Dan Hugger • December 11, 2019
The University of Marburg, where Röpke earned his degree in economics, and later taught ([link removed] )
No economist was so acutely aware of what a dangerous game he was playing as Wilhelm Röpke (1899–1966). It was in the trenches of Europe during World War I that Röpke dedicated himself to what would become his life’s work: "To understand the reasons for the crisis, to learn what brought it to the stage of war, and to find if war indeed resolved anything, I determined to become an economist and a sociologist." For Röpke a stable, prosperous, and dynamic market economy is only possible when free persons guided by conscience are animated by a transcendent sense of purpose. They must receive moral formation in family and community, be protected by the rule of law, and enjoy peaceful material and cultural exchange with those of other nations. The conditions of human flourishing are only ever partially fulfilled by bread alone, “Man can wholly fulfill his nature only by freely becoming part of a community and having a sense of solidarity with it. Otherwise he leads a miserable existence and he knows it.”
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Acton Line podcast: Elizabeth Warren wants $3 trillion tax hike; Mark Hall on America's Christian founding
December 11, 2019
Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks at a town hall in California ([link removed] )
Massachusetts Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has proposed to increase taxes for big businesses and high earners to nearly $3 trillion per year. Warren plans to use this tax to fund spending in health care, education, and family benefits, and as a result, according to Warren, the economy would grow. Are economists in agreement with Warren? What would increased taxes on the wealthy do for the economy? Dave Hebert, professor of economics and director of the Center for Markets, Ethics, and Entrepreneurship at Aquinas College, lays it out. On the second segment, Mark Hall, professor at George Fox University, joins the show to discuss his new book, Did America Have a Christian Founding? It's a perennial question: how did the Judeo-Christian worldview under gird America's founding and why is this question worth asking? Hall explains the main arguments in his book and dispels some common myths surrounding America's founders.
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Acton Lecture Series Video: David Hebert on how ice got to India ([link removed] )
The 2019 Acton Lecture Series wrapped up last week Thursday with a lecture by David Hebert, director of the Center for Markets, Ethics, and Entrepreneurship at Aquinas College. Hebert told the fascinating story of Frederick Tudor, a Boston entrepreneur who in the early 1800s set about finding a way to transport ice from a pond in Massachusetts all the way to Bombay, India. It's a tale of entrepreneurial instinct and technological innovation, and shows how important private property and the rule of law are for creating and smooth operation of markets.
Brian Tierney, rest in peace ([link removed] )
The world of medieval history suffered a great loss on November 30 with the death of Professor Brian Tierney. Widely recognized as a leading scholar of medieval Western Christianity and how church law and institutions affected the broader culture of Europe, Tierney wrote widely but also deeply on topics ranging from the origins of papal infallibility to how religion shaped the development of constitutionalism.
Trade war hits home: How tariffs disrupt American businesses ([link removed] )
Despite the “America-first” claims of trade protectionists and economic nationalists, we continue to see the ill effects of the Trump administration’s recent wave of tariffs—particularly among American businesses, workers, and consumers. While such controls may serve to temporarily benefit a select number of businesses or industries, they are just as likely to distort and contort any number of other fruitful relationships and creative partnerships across the economic order—at home, abroad, and everywhere in between.
Chilling video captures the moment socialism morphs into anti-Semitism ([link removed] )
“Anti-Semitism,” quipped nineteenth-century German socialist August Bebel, “is the socialism of fools.” However, a chilling new video shows that socialism helps prime leftists to espouse anti-Jewish sentiments in an instant.
Vocation isn’t about ‘doing what you love’ ([link removed] )
We’ve seen a renewed focus among Christians on the deeper value and significance of our work, leading to plenty of fruitful reflection on how we might find and follow God in our economic lives. Yet this same realization has coincided with a growing cultural emphasis on self-actualization and the supposed glories of “doing what you love and loving what you do.” While we may be growing more attentive to the power of “vocation,” we’ve also begun to confuse and conflate it with our personal “dreams” and “passions.”
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