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NOTE: This event is co-sponsored by the Acton Institute and will be held in Grand Rapids, MI.
The economic events of the past year have raised several significant questions. Is our current situation a failure of capitalism? Does a free enterprise system shortchange the poor and middle class? Is capitalism worth
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saving? As government decision-makers stand ready to replace private citizens and free-markets as the drivers of the economy, Americans must decide which system can best promote and ensure their values and ideals.
To answer these questions at this joint American Enterprise Institute and Acton Institute event, AEI president Arthur Brooks will provide an overview of the new culture war developing in America over free enterprise and describe the choice Americans must face. Acton Institute president Father Robert Sirico will discuss the moral case for free enterprise and entrepreneurship. The event will conclude with a panel describing how capitalism not only creates wealth for everyone, including the poor, but also inspires and requires virtue among both producers and consumers. Question and answer sessions will follow discussions.
Please register online at www.acton.org or www.aei.org/acton. For more information, please contact Erin Hoekstra (202.862.7172; ehoekstra@aei.org).
| 7:45 a.m. | Registration and Breakfast | |
| 8:00 | Introduction: |
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| "The Fight for Free Enterprise" | Arthur Brooks, AEI | |
| 8:15 | Roundtable Discussion: | |
| "The Morality of Capitalism" | Arthur Brooks, AEI | |
| Reverend Sirico, Acton Institute | ||
| 9:30 | Panel Discussion: | |
| "My Brother’s Keeper: Why Capitalism Is Good for the Poor" |
Stephen Grabill, Acton Institute |
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| Kevin Hassett, AEI | ||
| Rudy Carrasco, Acton Institute | ||
| 10:30 | Adjournment |
Arthur C. Brooks became the president of AEI on January 1, 2009. Previously, he was Louis A. Bantle Professor of Business and Government Policy at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and an AEI visiting scholar. Mr. Brooks is the author of Who Really Cares (2006), which examines American charitable giving; the widely acclaimed Gross National Happiness (2008); and a textbook on social entrepreneurship. His next book on the coming culture war in America over free enterprise will be published in 2010.
Rudy Carrasco is a writer, minister, and advocate for Christian community development. He served for 19 years at Pasadena, Calif.-based Harambee Christian Family Center. Rudy's articles on urban ministry, youth development, and racial reconciliation have appeared in Christianity Today, the Los Angeles Times, Religion News Service,Youthworker Journal, and other publications. He serves on the board of directors of World Vision U.S. and TechMission, and is a member of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund's Alumni Hall of Fame. He holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University.
Dr. Stephen J. Grabill is research scholar in theology at Acton Institute and editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality. Dr. Grabill's research interests include Protestant social thought, the thought of Abraham Kuyper, and Christian social ethics. He is the general editor of The Stewardship Resource Bible: ESV, which is currently in production. He is the author of Rediscovering the Natural Law in Reformed Theological Ethics and editor of a collection entitled Sourcebook of Late Scholastic Monetary Theory.
Kevin Hassett is the director of economic policy studies and a senior fellow at AEI. His research areas include the U.S. economy, tax policy, and the stock market. Previously, Mr. Hassett was a senior economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, a professor at Columbia University, and policy consultant to the Treasury Department during the George H. W. Bush and Clinton administrations. He also served as a top economic advisor to the George W. Bush and John McCain presidential campaigns.
Rev. Robert A. Sirico, president of the Acton Institute, is known by many as a public intellectual. He is often in the pages of prominent newspapers or on the radio or television, being called upon for statements regarding economics, civil rights, and issues of religious concern. Rev. Sirico is also a parish priest with responsibility to St. Mary's parish in Kalamazoo and is the founder and leader of a new religious order in formation. Rev. Sirico lectures at colleges, universities, and business organizations throughout the United States and abroad. His writings on religious, political, economic, and social matters are published in a variety of newspapers and journals.
