Illegal Immigration, Categories, and the Kingdom of God
Categories are fundamental to how we define the world and ourselves in it. Categories are so integral to how we think that we rarely reflect on them and how they define our relationship to the world. One of the most … Read More
Natural Law Theology and the Kingdom of God
Only in the last several years have I become aware of the natural law tradition in theology that informs much contemporary Christian ethical and political debate; my interests and readings did not cross paths with natural law until I participated … Read More
A Response to Robert Reich on Big Money in Politics
Robert Reich recently posted a critique of big money on his Facebook page, in which he listed seven points of criticism. He seems to be focusing on the political right, noting that “a dozen Republican wanna-be’s are already attacking government … Read More
Speculators, Time Shifting Prices, and Resource Conservation
In a recent exchange with a friend, a common view of commodity speculators emerged that they drive up prices and extract money from the rest of us. The actual role of speculation in the market does not intuitively make sense, … Read More
Speculators, Prices, and Information
Following the previous post on the role of speculators in markets, this is a more conceptual view of what is happening with the information system of prices in markets. We do not normally think of prices as communicating information, but … Read More
Why Nations Fail: An Alternate Reading
Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson’s book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, is nothing if not audacious. The result of 15 years of study, the authors cover a vast spread of historical and contemporary examples of … Read More
Richard Bauckham and Carlo Lottieri on Rome and the State
I am reading two highly dissimilar books, one a theological work on the Revelation to John, the other a work on European political theology. I was struck by the similarity of thought of the two authors describing Rome and the … Read More
Externalities 8. Edward Freeman: Stakeholder Theory
This is the eighth of a series examining the moral dimensions of economic “externalities”, the spillover or incidental side effects in market activity. The series is available in expanded form, with an introductory chapter and updated essays, as an e-book … Read More
Externalities 7. Gregory Kavka and Future Generations
This is the seventh of a series examining the moral dimensions of economic “externalities”, the spillover or incidental side effects in market activity. The series is available in expanded form, with an introductory chapter and updated essays, as an e-book … Read More
Externalities 6. Harold Demsetz and Paul Heyne on Ethics and Property Rights
This is the sixth of a series examining the moral dimensions of economic “externalities,” the spillover or incidental side effects in market activity. The series is available in expanded form, with an introductory chapter and updated essays, as an e-book … Read More