Acton Line

Latest Episodes:

Blockchain Technology with Alexander Romanowski Oct 05, 2022

Show notes

Alexander Hernandez Romanowski is a crypto research analyst at Tribal. Formerly a blockchain research analyst at the Mcnair Center for entrepreneurship at the Baker Institute for Public Policy, Romanowski focuses on how blockchain technology can improve access to capital for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Stephen Barrows, Acton’s Chief Operating Officer, sits down with Romanowski to examine a research report entitled “Accelerating Small Business with Blockchain Technology.” Romanowski explains how blockchain technology is evolving, how its adoption is increasing, and what the implications are for decentralized finance and small businesses.

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(99+) Alexander Hernández Romanowski | LinkedIn

Accelerating Small Business with Blockchain Technology | Houston, Texas USA (bakerinstitute.org)

McNair Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth | Baker Institute

Tribal Credit | A Corporate Card Built For Growing Businesses

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The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories Sep 28, 2022

Show notes

5G. Microchips in vaccines. Crisis actors. Chemtrails.

It seems that tales of conspiracy theories are in the news, and on social medial, constantly. But conspiracy theories have been with us for a long time.

Black helicopters. 9/11 trutherism. The JFK assassination. And, anti-semitism is arguably the oldest conspiracy theory there is.

Are conspiracy theories more prevalent now than they have been before? And what attracts people to believing in them?

In this episode, Eric Kohn, Acton’s Director of Marketing & Communications, talk with Dr. Aaron Pomerantz, assistant professor of psychology at University of St. Thomas Houston, about his research into the psychology of conspiracy theories.

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Free Trade and Globalization Sep 21, 2022

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Philip Booth is professor of finance, public policy, and ethics and director of Catholic Mission at St. Mary’s University explores all aspects of free trade and globalization.

What is globalization? Is it a new phenomena? How did globalization fuel progress in the 19th century and how was it disrupted? How has globalization effected the developing world? How are effects different in the developed world?
What challenges does globalization present to both the developed and developing world?
Does protectionism offer an effective answer to the challenges of globalization in the developed world? The developing world?
Why have political movements on both the left and the right seemed to grow more hostile to globalization over recent years?
Does free trade and globalization erode local cultures?
What concerns have religious leaders raised concerning globalization?

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About Philip Booth

Catholic Social Thought

America's Trade and Regulatory Policies Have Contributed to the Baby Formula Shortage | Reason

Globalization, Poverty and International Development

Catholic Social Teaching and the Market Economy Revised Second Edition

A leading economist analyses what the Pope's new encyclical really says about markets

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Judaism and the Market Economy Sep 14, 2022

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Rabbi Mitchell Rocklin serves as the president of the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty and is also a resident research fellow at the Tikvah Fund has a wide ranging conversation on Judaism and Markets.

How does religion in general speak to the market economy? Does Judaism’s covenantal self-understanding foster a unique perspective? Where do the perspectives of Christianity and Islam overlap with Judaism and how do they differ? What is the historical contribution of the Jewish community to economic dynamism? How does this relate to anti-Jewish attitudes and prejudice?

What are contemporary attitudes toward the market in the United States and the larger Jewish world?

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Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty

Are American Jews Shifting Their Political Affiliation?

Race and Covenant

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The Rise of the New Puritans Sep 07, 2022

Show notes

In The Rise of the New Puritans, Commentary Magazine associate editor Noah Rothman explains how, in pursuit of a better world, a relatively new and fervent strain of progressivism, in a “burst of moral enthusiasm” is ruining the very things which make life worth living by attempting to craft a society full of verbal trip wires and digital witch hunts. Football? Too violent. Fusion food? Appropriation. The nuclear family? Oppressive.

As the social scientist Yuval Levin wrote in a review of the book, what’s interesting about this New Puritanism is that “it is not rooted in a Christian ethic, at least not explicitly, and therefore that its worldly severity is not moderated by humility before the divine.”

In response to this phenomenon, Rothman encourages us to spurn a movement whose primary goal has become limiting happiness. The book uncovers the historical roots of this war on fun and reminds us of the freedom and personal fulfillment at the heart of the American experiment.

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Rise of the New Puritans | Amazon

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How History Frees and Forms Christians Aug 31, 2022

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David George Moore, founder and president of Two Cities Ministries, discusses his recent book Stuck in the Present: How History Frees and Forms Christians. Dylan Pahman, Acton research fellow and executive editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality, joins Moore to explore his vision of how a deeper appreciation of history can ground Christians in an age in which one too often faces a landslide of information with insufficient tools to sift through the mess of our present world.

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Stuck in the Present

Lord Acton: Historical and Moral Essays

Nietzsche’s Thoughts Out of Season, Part II

Orthodox Christian Social Thought and History

Raising Some Concerns over the “Inductive Method” of Bible Study

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Economic Inequality and Envy Aug 24, 2022

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P. J. Hill, professor of economics emeritus at Wheaton College (Illinois) and a senior fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center in Bozeman, Montana, delves into the topic of “Economic Inequality and Envy” based on a lecture he gave at Acton University 2022. Sarah Negri, research project coordinator at Acton, sits down with Hill to talk about the different kinds of economic inequality, the difference between inequality and poverty, and the economic and moral problems with envy being the modern standard mindset towards those who create mass wealth. They discuss the relationship between inequality and injustice with regard to human dignity, including what moral obligations might go hand in hand with being wealthy, as well as whether economic measures which have the goal of lessening inequality, such as resource transfers, are effective.

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About P. J. Hill

Growth and Welfare in the American Past

The Birth of a Transfer Society

The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier

A Theory of Justice (John Rawls)

John Rawls’s “veil of ignorance” thought experiment

The preferential option for the poor

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Does the university have a future? Aug 17, 2022

Show notes

The Rev. John Arthur Nunes, Ph.D., is a Lutheran pastor and senior fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy, discusses the current challenges in higher education.

How can students be challenged to enter into the world of new ideas in an era when many students and administrators seem more concerned with affirming student identities and experience? What are the current challenges to academic freedom in the face of increasing pressure to censor ideas? How can campus leaders promote an environment of free inquiry? What bureaucratic obstacles exist to building student resilience?

In addition, Rev. Nunes considers the promise of creative disruption in the educational status quo by new institutions of higher learning, particularly within the humanities. How does a robust education in the humanities prepare students not only for a future world of work but all of life.

The conversation concludes with an illuminating discussion of the religious dimensions of current conflicts in higher education and how trust can be restored in damaged institutions.

Harvard lecturer takes heat for defending existence of biological sex

Biology Lecturer’s Comments on Biological Sex Draw Backlash

University of Austin

Pano Kanelos on the University of Austin | Acton Line

Academic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free Expression

Meant for More: In, With. and Under the Ordinary | John Nunes

Wittenberg Meets the World: Reimagining the Reformation at the Margins | Alberto L. Garcia

The Road to Character | David Brooks

A World after Liberalism: Philosophers of the Radical Right | Matthew Rose

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7 Deadly Economic Sins Aug 10, 2022

Show notes

You’ve heard of the Seven Deadly Sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. Each is a natural and recurring human weakness that impedes happiness. In addition to these vices, however, there are deadly economic “sins.” They, too, wreak havoc in both our personal lives and in society. They can seem intuitively compelling, yet lead to waste and lost prosperity. Dylan Pahman, Acton’s research fellow and executive editor of the Journal of Markets and Morality, sat down with James R. Otteson, author of "Seven Deadly Economic Sins," to discuss his lecture on this very topic during Acton University 2022.

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‘Seven Deadly Economic Sins’

About James R. Otteson

David Hume | Essential Scholars

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Emerging Leaders at the Acton Institute Aug 03, 2022

Show notes

The Acton Institute’s Emerging Leaders Program is a leadership development initiative that brings together a cohort of students from across the nation and globe for a transformative experience. During the summer, Emerging Leaders gain professional experience, grow their network, and delve deeper into the ideas of a free and virtuous society.

In this episode, we sit down with three of our Emerging Leaders: Walker Haskins, Lauren McCoy, and David Mendoza. They discuss Acton’s Emerging Leaders Program, the landscape of the broader liberty movement, and how Acton fits into their future scholarly pursuits. Also discussed is Walter’s and David’s research on Wawrzyniec Goślicki, a 16th-century influential but now largely forgotten Polish bishop whose book, The Accomplished Senator, argued for the importance of legislative bodies in mediating between a monarch’s absolutist tendencies and noblemen’s attempts to acquire more power.

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Emerging Leaders Program | Acton Institute

Our Mission & Core Principles | Acton Institute

Why Read the Classics in Economics? | Econlib

How to Get Action | Foundation for Economic Education

Wawrzyniec Goślicki | Wikipedia

‘De optimo senatore’ | Wikipedia

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