On April 3–4, the Lumen Christi Institute at the University of Chicago held its sixth annual conference on economics and Catholic social thought. These conferences bring together high-powered economists with bishops and archbishops and theologians for a day-and-a-half of presentations and . . . . Continue Reading »
I’m trying to understand why God’s word to the woman in Genesis 3:16 connects “your desire shall be for your husband” with “he shall rule over you.” The meaning of the connection becomes clearer as we look ahead to the narrative continuation of Genesis and its patriarchal households. . . . . Continue Reading »
Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy by Robert A. Sirico Regnery, 256 pages, $27.95 The Catholic Church, at its best, has preserved a rare freedom from political fashion. It has allied itself now with the left, now with the right, as its own doctrine and interests have . . . . Continue Reading »
Behold, the fruit of class warfare rhetoric. This is what happens when you teach that “rich people” became rich at your expense and they owe you their property. The end of respect for private property and a person’s right to have what he’s earned is the end of . . . . Continue Reading »
Jim Wallis and a number of other Christians involved in politics are trying to gain attention for the question, “What would Jesus cut?” The answer to this question is supposed to be as obvious as it is in other moral contexts. For example, would Jesus lie about the useful life of a . . . . Continue Reading »
Alasdair MacIntyre, who is probably the greatest living philosopher, concludes his 1981 masterwork After Virtue by saying, “We are waiting not for a Godot, but for another—doubtless very different—St. Benedict.” In that book MacIntyre argues that a correct understanding of morality is based . . . . Continue Reading »
The Left does not know what the word “economy” means. President Obama hinted at this, I think it was during the campaign, when he railed against those who said that government jobs were, somehow, not “real” jobs. He seems to believe that going to a work location bringing home . . . . Continue Reading »
In debates between Christian theologians and economists over the nature of capitalism, facts and figures count for almost nothing. At times the two seem to speak separate languages—perhaps most strikingly when they use the very same words. On the one hand, economists purport to be practical . . . . Continue Reading »
Dragon in a Three-Piece Suit: The Emergence of Capitalism in China by doug guthrie princeton university press, 302 pages, $39.95 In the famous account he gave of his twenty-four years away from his native Venice, Marco Polo was not above embellishment: the gold and silver said to line the walls of . . . . Continue Reading »
Adam Smith in His Time and Ours: Designing the Decent Society by jerry z. muller free press, 272 pages, $22.95 A good work of intellectual history should exemplify two qualities above all: an imagination that allows the author to “pass over” into the horizon of his subject in order to see the . . . . Continue Reading »
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