Acton Institute

The Acton Institute is an associate member of the State Policy Network, a coalition of free-market state-level policy organizations. ³

Activity

The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty is a non-partisan think tank that promotes free market principles and individual liberty based on Judeo-Christian beliefs. The Acton Institute conducts academic research, organizes seminars, and produces publications that connect religious virtues with free-market economics. ¹

The Acton Institute claims that government bailouts and other “free money” from the government, in the form of stimulus checks, benefits, medical care, and paycheck loans, are harmful to America’s business culture. The Institute believes that these government interventions favor the largest companies, rescue otherwise inefficient small businesses, and make the country less productive overall. The Institute claims that these interventions do not support capitalism and instead create a form of socialism favoring the already rich and powerful. Additionally, the Institute claims that bailouts create more dependency on government, present a distorted sense of economy to citizens, and create a “moral hazard” for businesses, making them less risk-averse. ⁴

The Acton Institute claims that property ownership is necessary for the common good and that environmental outcomes are negatively impacted by undefined and unenforced property rights. While Pope Francis and the Catholic Church do not recognize property rights as absolute, the Institute points to the teachings of Thomas Aquinas, which state that private property has a social purpose. The Institute further claims Aquinas’ teachings are supported by modern economics in that ownership of private property provides incentives for sustainability and that people will only nurture property that will not be negatively affected by others. ⁵

The Acton Institute does not support an increased minimum wage and has been critical of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 2014 letter urging Congress to increase the minimum wage nationwide. ⁶ Instead, the Acton Institute advocates for public policy that supports flexible wages as a way to achieve just employment practices. The Institute claims that most economists agree that unemployment is caused by wage rigidity and the Institute further believes that unemployment erodes both spiritual and material goods within families and communities. The Institute claims that fixed wage policies purport to protect workers and workers’ rights, but instead these policies do not incentivize businesses to increase wages or employment. Instead, wage flexibility would work within economic cycles to minimize unemployment, preserve jobs when necessary, and increase wages when possible, all in the service of family and community. ⁷

Funding

The Acton Institute is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. While the Acton Institute does not disclose its donors, tax filings show donations from Donors Trust, which contributed between 2010 and 2019, ⁸ Donors Capital Fund, which contributed between 2010 and 2016, ⁹ and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, which contributed between 2000 and 2018. ¹⁰

People

Staff

Kris Mauren is co-founder and executive director of Acton Institute. Mauren serves on the boards of Donors Capital Fund, the Foundation for Economic Education, and the John Templeton Foundation. ¹¹

Robert Sirico is co-founder and president of Acton Institute. Sirico formerly served on the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. ¹²

Alejandro Chafuen is the international managing director of the Acton Institute. Chafuen formerly worked as president and CEO of the Atlas Network and is the founder and former president of the Hispanic American Center of Economic Research. ¹³

Eric Kohn is director of communications at the Acton Institute and leader of the Chicago chapter of America’s Future Foundation. Kohn formerly worked as director of community management at the Illinois Policy Institute. ¹⁴

Mustafa Akyol is an affiliate scholar at the Acton Institute and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. ¹⁵

Anne Rathbone Bradley is an affiliate scholar at the Acton Institute, the academic director of the Fund for American Studies, and a visiting scholar at the Bernard Center for Women, Politics and Public Policy. Bradley formerly served as the vice president of economic initiatives at the Institute for Faith, Work and Economics. ¹⁶

Philip Booth is a contributing author at the Acton Institute and a senior academic fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs. ¹⁷

Board of Directors

Kyle Bode is the vice president of the Kern Family Foundation. ¹⁸

Leslie Graves is the president of the Lucy Burns Institute. ¹⁹

J.C. Huizenga sits on the board of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and formerly chaired the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. ²⁰

David Humphreys sits on the board of the Cato Institute and as the executive committee chair of the Institute for Humane Studies. ²¹