Financial executive David Milroy, a board member of the Acton Institute, looks at the financial market meltdown and the ethical problems behind it. "The collapse in the real estate market triggered this crisis, but it was the behavior of market participants that laid the groundwork," he writes. Samuel Gregg examines the moral failures that led to the financial crisis and asks why more free-marketers aren't also asking questions about the human factor. "One explanation for this silence could be that some market-advocates have embraced, consciously or otherwise, the soft relativism so prevalent in Western societies but which renders coherent moral analysis impossible," he writes.

Quick Links:

• “The Economic Crisis and the Cause of Freedom”
  commentary by David Milroy
• "No Morality, No Markets"
  commentary by Samuel Gregg
• "Sorting Out the Economic Crisis"
  David Milroy interviewed on Kresta in the Afternoon
• "Examining the Bailout Process "
  Rev. Robert Sirico interviewed on Relevant Radio

New from Acton Media, the Birth of Freedom Shorts are a series of supplementary videos which provide additional insight into key issues related to Acton's latest documentary, The Birth of Freedom. In these clips, experts address questions such as "What is Freedom?," "How has Judaism Contributed to Human Rights?," and "How do Inventions in the 'Dark Ages' compare to those of the Roman Empire?" New shorts are released each Monday.

Quick Links:

• The Birth of Freedom - Official Website
• The Birth of Freedom - Upcoming Premieres
• The Birth of Freedom - Video Shorts Series

Get the LOLord Acton Quote Generator for your own site!

The staff of the Acton Institute PowerBlog have rolled out a new widget that can be added to your blog, website, or social networking page. The LOLord Acton Quote Generator is based on nearly 100 quotes from the eminent writings of Lord Acton, translated into what has become known as "LOL" text. LOL text has become an Internet phenomenon, starting with sites like those that feature LOLcats. Theologians from the history of the church have been LOL-ized (early, medieval, Reformation, modern) and now Lord Acton joins the ranks of those figures with wisdom from the past deemed worthy of communication to present generations. The purpose of the LOLord Acton generator is to introduce people in a fun way to the famous (and not-so famous) quotes from Lord Acton, encourage readers to engage these quotes in their original form, and cause them to think about the wisdom embedded in these quotes.

Kishore Jayabalan, director of the Acton Institute's offices in Rome, talks about the attempts to re-start the stalled Doha Round of WTO talks, and the importance to the developing world of access to free foreign markets, especially in regard the agriculture and manufacturing industries.

Quick Links

• China Joins Doha Talks at the World Trade Organisation - Vatican Radio
• Who’s Afraid of Free Trade? - by Michael Miller, Acton Commentary.
• A Papal Challenge to Globalization - by Bernd Bergmann, Acton Institute PowerBlog.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama has recently announced plans to continue and expand the faith-based initiative started during the Bush administration. In a piece for National Review Online, Rev. Robert A. Sirico, president of the Acton Institute, discusses the temptations faced by private charities that are offered government funding. "Charities with a religious mission shouldn't be getting mixed up in all that bureaucracy, all those regulations, and all those rules concerning their own internal management. Nor should they become dependent on taxpayers. Doing so skews the institutional mission of the charity," he writes. Read Rev. Sirico on National Review Online

Quick Links

• Rev. Sirico on National Review Online
• The Samaritan Guide
• Press Release - Acton Institute announces finalists for the Samaritan Award
• Acton PowerBlog - Round-Up: Obama and the Faith-Based Initiative