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Religion and the Rise of Capitalism

By: Benjamin M. Friedman
Narrated by: Paul Bellantoni
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Summary

From one of the nation's preeminent experts on economic policy, a major reassessment of the foundations of modern economic thinking that explores the profound influence of an until-now unrecognized force - religion.

"Friedman has given us an original and brilliant new perspective on the terrifying divisions of our own times. No book could be more important." (George A. Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics)

Critics of contemporary economics complain that belief in free markets - among economists as well as many ordinary citizens - is a form of religion. And, it turns out, that in a deeper, more historically grounded sense there is something to that idea.

Contrary to the conventional historical view of economics as an entirely secular product of the Enlightenment, Benjamin M. Friedman demonstrates that religion exerted a powerful influence from the outset. Friedman makes clear how the foundational transition in thinking about what we now call economics, beginning in the eighteenth century, was decisively shaped by the hotly contended lines of religious thought within the English-speaking Protestant world. Beliefs about God-given human character, about the after-life, and about the purpose of our existence, were all under scrutiny in the world in which Adam Smith and his contemporaries lived.

Friedman explores how those debates go far in explaining the puzzling behavior of so many of our fellow citizens whose views about economic policies - and whose voting behavior - seems sharply at odds with what would be to their own economic benefit. Illuminating the origins of the relationship between religious thinking and economic thinking, together with its ongoing consequences, Friedman provides invaluable insights into our current economic policy debates and demonstrates ways to shape more functional policies for all citizens.

©2021 Benjamin M. Friedman (P)2021 Random House Audio
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Critic reviews

“Once theological questions are rendered into secular language, their relevance, and thus the importance of Friedman’s Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, becomes clear.... This overview cannot even begin to pay homage to the prodigious research informing Friedman’s analysis. He covers not only the main thinkers in both economics and theology, but also the less-well-known ones who helped shape their thought. He can credibly discuss the philosophy of John Locke and the science of Isaac Newton. As one reads Friedman, words like 'magisterial', 'masterpiece' and 'magnificent' floated through my thoughts.... If someone had told me that a former chairman of the Harvard economics department would write a major work on Calvinism and its influence, you would have had to consider me a skeptic. Nonetheless Friedman has, and the result is an awakening all its own.” (Alan Wolfe, The New York Times Book Review)

“Friedman has made an important contribution to the literature on the intertwining of Western economic thought with religious beliefs. His detailed tracing of the philosophical and theological roots of free market economics is well researched, well written, and well worth reading." (Carol Elsen, Library Journal, starred review)

“Of the many factors that went into the construction of the modern economic worldview undergirding capitalism, Friedman has successfully added religion back into the causal equation.” (Michael Shermer, The American Scholar)

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    3 out of 5 stars

Heavy going

It is heavy and deep - but provides a great deal of context to economic development over the last 300 years.

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