Research On Religion » religion and economics

Jared Rubin on Religion & Credit Risk in the Ottoman Empire (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 05 Nov 2017 09:00:55 +0000

In celebration of the release of Prof. Rubin’s new book, Rulers, Religion, and Riches: Why the West Got Rich and the Middle East Did Not, we offer up this oldie but goldie from our archives. We expect to be hearing more from Jared in the coming months, so stay tuned!

When it comes to wielding economic power in society, and getting the best interest rates on loans, most people would expect that the wealthy and politically connected would be in a better position than others. While generally true, Prof. Jared Rubin – an associate professor of economics at Chapman University and associate director of the Institute for Religion, Economics, and Society – points to a very interesting period in Islamic history where this didn’t necessarily hold true. In fact, it was during the late Ottoman Empire that those in socially-disadvantaged positions were able to secure lower interest rates on loans than the rich and powerful. The groups paying lower rates on credit included women, the poor, and non-Muslims.

As Jared has been a guest on the show before, we open with a bit of banter about what he has been up to, which includes writing a new book and wrangling over the title of that book. Our conversation then jumps to a recent project with another RoR guest, Timur Kuran. Here, these two scholars take a look at how interest rates were set in the late Ottoman Empire (circa 17th and 18th centuries). Jared spends some time filling us in on what this period in Ottoman history looked like, with a survey of the legal, banking, and commercial system that was in place and how religiously diverse Istanbul and other parts of the empire was. This discussion also covers how women were able to accumulate wealth during this period of time, an important observation as females were part of the credit market in the Ottoman Empire. Jared explains the importance of interest in credit markets and how Islamic rules on usury operated.

The next step in our discussion covers how individuals with legal and financial power can often gain favorable access to credit, a result that is not surprising to most folks. However, we quickly learn that during the period under examination by Profs. Rubin and Kuran, the well-connected often paid higher interest rates than those in a less favorable social position. Jared points out that titled elites (i.e, the politically well-connected), Muslims, and men paid a premium on their loans relative to those not politically connected, females, and non-Muslims. He explains how Timur Kuran discovered this empirical oddity while conducting extensive archival research, and how both of them thought it was merely a problem with a small sample size or poor data recording at first. However, the more they examined the situation, the more it revealed a fascinating puzzle. Jared explains that because the politically well-connected and Muslims would oftentimes get favorable decisions from the court system when they defaulted, lenders would build in a small premium to manage this increased risk. Non-elites and non-Muslims (e.g., Christians and Jews) were less likely to receive favorable judgments in default hearings and thus were incentivized to be more careful in paying back their loans. He also notes that males had an easier time fleeing when it came time to pay back their loans, whereas women had fewer exit opportunities and were thus a lower lending risk. Our discussion explores the magnitude of these differences as well as the varying types of legitimate and illegitimate default.

The latter portion of our podcast explores why a similar pattern did not arise in Christian Europe as well as some modern extensions of this theory that take us to the land of Brazil and how this affects the ability of the poor to get apartments when renters’ rights are so strong. While Kuran and Rubin’s work on the Ottoman Empire seems to be a historical oddity, Jared notes that their findings fit nicely into our knowledge about credit risk today and could be useful in explaining financial results in other parts of the world or during other periods of time. We discuss some of the more surprising things he learned from this study including how going into empirical data with an open mind can often times prompt interesting theoretical questions, and how history is a good teacher. Recorded: February 17, 2016.

Note: Due to some phone issues, portions of the podcast had to be edited. We attempted to do this as seamlessly as possible.

Rulers, Religion, and Riches: Why the West Got Rich and the Middle East Did Not, by Jared Rubin.

“The Financial Power of the Powerless: Socio-Economic Status and Interest Rates under Weak Rule of Law,” by Timur Kuran and Jared Rubin.

The Institute for Religion, Economics, and Society (IRES) at link to the graduate workshop.

The Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture (ASREC).

RELATED PODCASTS

Jared Rubin on Christian and Islamic Economic History.

Timur Kuran on Islamic Law and Economic Development.

Timur Kuran on Islamic Economics.

Murat Iyigun on Monotheism, Conflict, Europe, and the Ottomans (and the Blues).

Clark Lombardi on Sharia Law.

Nile Green on Islam in Bombay and Beyond.

Eileen Kane on the Russian Hajj.

Larry Iannaccone on Sacrifice, Stigma, and the Economics of Religion.

Colleen Haight on Jewish Peddlers in 19th Century America.

Ani Sarkissian on Politics & Religious Civil Society in Turkey.

Anthony Gill on the Political Origins of Religious Liberty (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 14:45:26 +0000

Due to a series of technical difficulties with our studio line, we are rebroadcasting an interview that friend and colleague Steven Pfaff (UW Sociology) did with me nearly 5 years ago. Given that I am teaching a course on religion and politics this term, I am floating this one up to the top of the feed as an encore presentation for the students and for you. Please enjoy, and once we get the phone lines reconnected we will bring you some crescent fresh episodes.

Religious liberty has not been the normal state of affairs in world history. Indeed, religious activity has been tightly controlled by rulers across space and time. So why would political leaders ever choose to “deregulate a religion market”? This week, Anthony Gill (University of Washington, political science), the host of Research on Religion (Facebook page and Twitter), becomes the guest as Prof. Steven Pfaff (University of Washington, sociology) takes the reins of inquisitor and peppers Tony with questions about his book The Political Origins of Religious Liberty. We begin our conversation with a definition of religious liberty. Tony points out that it is important to think about religious liberty in terms of costs and benefits. Any government policy that imposes a greater cost on an individual or group’s ability to worship needs to be viewed as a decrease in freedom, whereas anything reducing such costs enhances liberty. We then talk about previous theories of why religious liberty has arisen in the modern world, noting that most scholars rely upon ideational reasons for its appearance — namely that policymakers were convinced by philosophers that religious freedom was a good idea in-and-of-itself. But Tony notes that even through religious liberty might be a good idea per se, it is not an idea that is always shared by everyone in the policymaking arena. Numerous policy ideas exist at any given moment and it is important to consider the political and economic interests of rule-makers when accounting for the appearance of tolerance and freedom in places like The Netherlands, Great Britain, and the United States. Secular leaders are most interested in their political survival, generating tax revenue, and growing the economy. These interests will be taken into consideration when deciding whether or not to allow greater religious freedoms. We also note that religious leaders are not neutral in this process. the clergy of dominant religions will generally favor restrictions on religious minorities, whereas religious minorities will advocate for greater religious freedoms. The gradual development of religious pluralism changes the political landscape in a way that favors the emergence of tolerance and liberty in the long-run (though there is likely to be conflict in the short-run). Our discussion relies upon examples from colonial British America, but Steve Pfaff adds to the conversation other illustrations from Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, and even Spain. We close with Steve challenging Tony on some different configurations of religious liberty and whether or not a government that seeks to be “neutral” is privileging secularism over all other confessions. Tony chimes in on this topic as well. Recorded: December 18, 2012.

Steve Pfaff’s bio at the University of Washington’s Department of Sociology.

The Political Origins of Religious Liberty, by Anthony Gill.

Rendering unto Caesar: The Catholic Church and the State in Latin America, by Anthony Gill.

Exit-voice Dynamics & the Collapse of East Germany, by Steven Pfaff.

The Spiritual Virtuoso: Personal Faith and Social Transformation, by Marion Goldman and Steven Pfaff.

RELATED PODCASTS

An extensive list of our podcasts on religious liberty.

Anthony Gill on Religion (an EconTalk podcast).

Steven Pfaff on the World of 1517 (Protestant Reformation Series).

Steven Pfaff on Denominationalism, Sin, and Other Stuff.

Larry Iannaccone on Sacrifice, Stigma, and the Economics of Religion.

Colleen Haight on Jewish Peddlers in 19th Century America (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 10 Jul 2016 08:00:16 +0000

In the 19th century, as the US population was expanding westward, Jewish immigrants and their children played an important economic role in moving supplies via merchant channels. Relative to their numbers in the population, Jews were disproportionately represented as peddlers and merchants. Prof. Colleen Haight, an associate professor of economics at San Jose State University, returns to the program to discuss this phenomenon and how it relates to the economics of religion.

After a bit of introductory chat about how Prof. Haight stumbled on this project, rituals, and her aunt’s oyster stew, our conversation about Jewish merchants begins with a rather odd and seemingly unrelated topic — used car lemons. Nobel Laureate George Akerloff’s famous “lemons problem” will become an important foundational point for Colleen’s argument about Jewish peddlers. Akerloff used the selling of used cars to highlight what is known as an asymmetric information problem in economics. While the seller of a used auto knows the various problems the car has, the buyer is uncertain whether or not the information about the car is correct or not. If no trust can be established between the buyer and seller, such economic transactions are likely to break down. We then discuss various solutions to this problem including, and most importantly, the role that reputation and investments in one’s trustworthiness makes.

We then turn to the issue of “middlemen” — peddlers and merchants who provide a very important role in the economy by transporting resources to their highest use, but who are often much maligned because they do not seem to add any value to the goods they are trading. Colleen notes that the role of the merchant is not one that many people like to do because of its negative image. We then discuss the very unique role that religious minorities and immigrants have played in this portion of the economy. She explains how dense networks of trust create the right environment to overcome many of the financing (credit) problems that beset peddlers. This then moves us to a discussion of the role that stigma plays in differentiating a community, binds people more tightly in their networks, and makes it difficult for members to defect upon agreements when it might be easy to do so. We note that Jews out in pioneer territory would have found it hard to “fit in” with the dominant community because of their religious rituals and particular ethnic markers. This was also exacerbated by a cultural hostility that was exhibited towards Jews in the 19th century. But we further note that this hostility created a “love-hate” relationship between pioneers and Jewish peddlers in that the pioneers needed the vital services of the travelling merchants even though they didn’t fit in with the community. Indeed, it was the fact that they didn’t quite fit in to the dominant culture that enhanced their ability to be trustworthy businesspeople.

We finish off the podcast with Colleen’s broader reflections this study and she notes that scholars need to look more closely at behaviors that seem odd or misplaced in order to find some interesting underlying logic to those cultural rituals and traits. Recorded: November 6, 2014.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Colleen Haight’s personal website.

“Hostile Territory: High-tension Religion and the Jewish Peddler,” by Colleen Haight.

“Lessons from Delphi: Religious markets and spiritual capitals,” by Laurence Iannaccone, Collen Haight, and Jared Rubin.

“Is Fair Trade in Coffee Production Fair and Useful?” by Colleen Haight (one of Tony’s favorite economic articles).

RELATED PODCASTS

Colleeen Haight on the Oracle of Delphi.

Carmel Chiswick on the Economics of American Judaism.

Larry Iannaccone on Sacrifice, Stigma, and the Economics of Religion.

Mike Munger on Middlemen (an EconTalk podcast).

Mark Koyama on the Economics of Jewish Expulsions.

Gary Richardson on Religion & Craft Guilds in the Middle Ages.

Mark David Hall on Religious Minorities in the American Founding.

Evan Haefeli on the Dutch Origins of Religious Tolerance .

Larry Witham on the Economics of Religion.

Nathanael Snow on the Evangelical Coalition and Public Choice

tonygill — Sun, 13 Mar 2016 08:00:58 +0000

How have evangelical Christians organized themselves over time to express their political and social views? Has this coalition remained stable over time, or has it changed? Nathanael Snow, a a PhD candidate in the department of economics at George Mason University discusses how the analytical tools of public choice theory can be applied to the study of the Evangelical Coalition over time to understand the organizational role that religion can play in political life.

As Tony can never resist the opportunity to explore where scholars develop their ideas from, he starts the discussion with an exploration of Nathanael’s background and how he came to blend public choice theory with economics. Nathanael reveals that he was inspired to follow the path of economic study while serving as a missionary serving inner city youth and teaching economics. This developed into a pursuit for a Ph.D. at George Mason University where student are encouraged to explore unique and non-traditional topics as economic graduate students. His marriage of public choice theory to the study of religious organizations was prompted by a quip made by one of his professors during a graduate seminar, and that becomes the focus of our discussion today. Public choice theory is then explained as a subfield of economics that applies the analytical tools of micro-economics to the world of politics, imposing the assumptions of methodological individualism, analytical egalitarianism, and self-interest onto the actions and decisions of people in the political realm. As religious individuals are also people with political preferences that seek to get those goals realized in public policy, Nathanael reasoned that this theoretical perspective would be an ideal one for examining the changing nature of the Evangelical Coalition.

Following that introduction to public choice theory, we turn to the religious world and Mr. Snow notes that it is very difficult to find a specific definition for what it means to be an evangelical. This ambiguity in definition is important because it provides a hint at the changing and chaotic nature of the “evangelical voting bloc” that so many politicians seek to capture. This leads to a discussion of median voter theory wherein politicians will seek to capture the “voter in the middle” of some multi-dimensional voting space, and that interest groups will often try to navigate their coalitions to fit the median voter. Given that not all evangelicals agree about everything, this leads to “voting chaos” within the coalition over time as different groups vie to be deemed the median voter and have their policies favored by elected officials. Nathanael explains that as the electoral franchise has expanded over time, religious organizations lose their direct legitimizing influence over the state and must compete for the attention of parliaments and other legislatures. Adam Smith becomes the topic of conversation as Mr. Snow makes a very insightful connection between what Smith wrote about religious organizations in Book V of The Wealth of Nations and his observation early in that work that members of a profession seldom meet for diversion before the conversation turns in a conspiratorial manner to raise prices. Tony thinks this is a brilliant insight and is upset that he never saw that direct linkage in his own work. Nathanael explains that it isn’t necessarily a “price” the way we think about it when it comes to religious activity in the public sphere, but getting one’s objectives codified into law.

Our interview then finishes with Nathanael’s review of the history of the Evangelical Coalition dating back to the early and mid-19th century in the United States. We cover the involvement that evangelicals had in organizing around the abolitionist movement and then see how a new split between progressives and fundamentalists arises in the early 20th century, redefining how this religious coalition views such issues as science, Darwinism, and contraception. As politics can make strange bedfellows, the interesting dynamics of this coalition can be seen when Southern evangelicals vote with Catholics for Al Smith in the 1928 presidential election and against Herbert Hoover. The first half of the 20th century becomes a period of schism and churning within the Evangelical Coalition that eventually settles down by the 1950s, which Nathanael declares a period of “peak Christendom.” It is at this time that the likes of Billy Graham can draw support from a wide spectrum of religious denominations and political viewpoints. We see the emergence of more voting chaos in the 1970s as progressive evangelicalism (e.g., the Sojourners) distance themselves from what becomes the Christian Right. Nathanael discusses the election of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, and declares the period of George W Bush the era of “peak evangelicalism.” Upon Tony’s prompting, Nathanael jumps into the world of speculation with respect to the upcoming 2016 presidential election, and also reflects on how his views about religion and politics have changed over the course of his research. Recorded: February 25, 2015.

RELATED PODCASTS

Jon Shields on Democratic Virtues and the Christian Right.

Hunter Baker on the Past and Future of the Christian Right.

David Dixon on Religious Rhetoric and the Civil Rights Movement.

James Patterson on MLK, Fulton Sheen, and Jerry Falwell.

James Wellman on Evangelicals versus Liberal Christians.

Gerald de Maio on the Electoral Religious Gap.

Kevin den Dulk on Religion, Education, and Civic Engagement.

John Wilsey on American Exceptionalism & Civil Religion

Sean Scott on Religious Rhetoric in the US Civil War.

Jared Rubin on Religion & Credit Risk in the Ottoman Empire

tonygill — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 09:00:09 +0000

When it comes to wielding economic power in society, and getting the best interest rates on loans, most people would expect that the wealthy and politically connected would be in a better position than others. While generally true, Prof. Jared Rubin — an associate professor of economics at Chapman University and associate director of the Institute for Religion, Economics, and Society — points to a very interesting period in Islamic history where this didn’t necessarily hold true. In fact, it was during the late Ottoman Empire that those in socially-disadvantaged positions were able to secure lower interest rates on loans than the rich and powerful. The groups paying lower rates on credit included women, the poor, and non-Muslims.

Note: Due to some phone issues, portions of the podcast had to be edited. We attempted to do this as seamlessly as possible.

The Institute for Religion, Economics, and Society (IRES) at Chapman University.

The Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture (ASREC).

“The Financial Power of the Powerless: Socio-Economic Status and Interest Rates under Weak Rule of Law,” by Timur Kuran and Jared Rubin.

Graduate Student Workshops on the Economics of Religion at ASREC.

RELATED PODCASTS

Jared Rubin on Christian and Islamic Economic History.

Timur Kuran on Islamic Law and Economic Development.

Timur Kuran on Islamic Economics.

Murat Iyigun on Monotheism, Conflict, Europe, and the Ottomans (and the Blues).

Wafa Hakim Orman on Religion and Economic Crises

tonygill — Sun, 21 Feb 2016 09:00:53 +0000

When the economy goes down, do people get up and go to church? Do they pray more? Does domestic violence increase during times of economic stress and does religion temper this finding? These are the motivating questions behind a series of research projects being conducted by Dr. Wafa Hakim Orman, an associate professor in the Department of Economics, Accounting, and Finance at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Not only does Prof. Orman reveal the religious effects of economic crises, but she also provides one of the most clear and pithiest explanations of the 1980s farm crisis and 2007 housing crisis that you will hear, a double bonus!

Our journey begins with Dr. Orman’s intellectual path to the study of economics and religion. While we have featured a number of economists of religion on past shows, it is always interesting to discover how economists ended up studying a topic not necessarily associated with that discipline. She traces her interest to a visit by Eli Berman (a previous RoR guest) to the University of Arizona wherein she was fascinated by his theory of religious club goods and collective action, and how Eli’s findings prompted new ways of thinking about her own research on open source software. Throughout our entire interview, Wafa provides a number of insights as to how she came to discover new avenues of inquiry, providing great lessons for undergraduates and graduate students looking to craft their own research projects.

We then move to a discussion of economic crises and Prof. Orman lays down the causes of the 1980s farm crisis that had its origins in cheap money in the 1970s. This discussion alone is worthy of our listeners’ interests, but then we take a look at how this economic downturn in rural areas may have impacted religiosity. She notes that her ideas for this study came from Daniel Chen’s examination of economic turmoil in Indonesia and how this motivated many individuals there to join Koran study groups for emotional and resource support during troubled times. Interestingly, the social networks that developed in these religious groups helped poor individuals gain access to credit later on, thus attendance at religious services is not just a spiritual or psychological palliative, but provides tangible benefits via the club good model of religion. Wafa then details her own study of religious attendance during economic crisis, explaining how she set up her comparisons and obtained data. We discover that religious attendance did increase following the downturn in commodity prices and farmland foreclosures in the early 1980s and the results were most pronounced in the areas where this was most severe. Frequency of prayer showed slightly less increase, but she notes there were data limitations with the General Social Survey’s measure of this variable. She also discusses how her study was augmented by a “difference within differences” methodological approach wherein she compared religious behavior of government employees (who were not affected by exogenous price commodity shocks) and found that the farm crisis had little impact on their church attendance.

We then take this study to a more contemporary time with an examination of the 2007-08 housing/financial crisis. Again, Prof. Orman nicely summarizes the causes of this economic event and observes that this provides an additional test of her findings regarding the farm crisis. Unlike the problems that beset the agricultural sector in the 1980s, the housing crisis was felt more dramatically in urban and suburban areas, particularly in the Southwest part of the United States and Florida. As with her earlier results on the farm crisis, we once again see religious attendance increasing in the areas hardest hit by housing foreclosures. When prompted to speculate as to whether individuals are seeking emotional solace or trying to build social networks by returning to church during these economic downturns, Wafa says that the data cannot really help us sort out that question — an example of a social scientist being truly humble about what her study says and not taking speculation beyond what the empirics can tell us.

We then finish off with some thoughts on additional projects Wafa is conducting, including a fascinating study of how economic downturns may impact intimate partner (domestic) violence. The operating theory is that when individuals are under financial stress they will often express it is ways that are physically violent. Prof. Orman’s study with two academic nurses (and one who actually worked with domestic abuse victims) indicate that there was an uptick in such cases in regions of Florida that were most severely impacted by the 2007-08 crisis. Wafa takes this one step further to see if religion had any impact in tempering these outcomes and does find that in regions where religiosity was more intense, there was less domestic abuse. Using Google searches on key religious terms as a variable to tease out spiritual interests, she also finds a complex endogenous relation between economic crisis, domestic abuse, and religious faith. We finish off with some of Wafa’s thoughts about the things that have most surprised her during the course of her studies into the economics of religion. She notes that even when various activities may appear to have no rational purpose, using economics to understand the utility function and constraints of individuals actually reveals how “meaningless rituals” may actually have a strong rational basis. Recorded: February 15, 2016.

A select listing of Prof. Orman’s published and working papers.

RELATED PODCASTS

Charles North on Religion, Economic Development, and the Rule of Law.

Michael McBride on Religious Free-Riding and the Mormon Church.

Michael McBride on the Economics of Religious Leadership.

Larry Iannaccone on Sacrifice, Stigma, and the Economics of Religion.

Eli Berman on Religious Terrorism.

Peter Leeson on Witch Trials and Human Sacrifice.

Carrie Miles on Religion, Gender, and Missionaries.

Murat Iyigun on Monotheism, Conflict, Europe, the Ottomans, and the Blues

tonygill — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 08:00:56 +0000

Are monotheisms better at establishing sociopolitical stability than civilizations with polytheistic religions? And to what extent do monotheistic civilizations influence the socio-economic development of one another? In particular, did the Ottoman Empire change the course of European history via its military advances into southeast Europe at a key moment in time? Prof. Murat Iyigun, the Stanford Calderwood Endowed Chair in Economics at the University of Colorado, answers these questions and discusses other interesting historical findings that he published in his new book, War, Peace, & Prosperity in the Name of God. And if that isn’t enough, Murat — an accomplished blues guitarist — treats us to an original “arabesque blues” tune at the end of our interview. Up your knowledge of history with our discussion, and then get down and funky with Prof. Iyigun’s musical stylings!

Our conversation begins, as usual, with a bit of background about our guest. Prof. Iyigun explains what cliometrics — one of his academic specialties — is and also how he became interested in the study of religion and economics. He notes that the events of September 11, combined with new advances in institutional economics, prompted him to look into the role that informal cultural institutions play in history. He also gives credit to his mentor — Herschel Grossman — at Brown University for inspiring him to look beyond the typical empirical fare of economics.

We then jump into Murat’s new book and he lays out the three central questions that he seeks to answer: 1) Why and how did monotheism spread so rapidly and become swiftly intertwined with political authority?; 2) What has been the role of religion and ideology in conflict historically?; and 3) What were the lasting sociopolitical and economic effects of religiously-motivated conflicts? As for the first question, we walk through Murat’s empirical study showing that, ceteris paribus, monotheistic civilizations tend to last longer than polytheistic ones and generally have greater territorial reach (a proxy for governing effectiveness). Tony probes some of the methodological difficulties in measuring these phenomenon and Murat provides convincing answers as to why his study does show a significant effect for monotheism. He then reviews some of the reasons why monotheisms might be better for obtaining sociopolitical stability, including the ability of ecclesiastics to provide credibility to rulers and lower the discount rate of individuals thus allowing for longer-term policies.

Turning to one particular monotheistic civilization — the Ottoman Caliphate — Dr. Iyigun provides some background information about how the Ottomans were able to rise to power and conquer a vast territory, extending across North Africa, into the Arabian peninsula, and eastward towards central Asia. He discusses the “Gaza ideology,” which promotes the basis for an offensive military strategy allowing for conquest, which then becomes its own engine of growth, allowing for a further extension of rule. The height of Ottoman rule from the mid-15th to the 17th centuries also has an important impact on Europe. With the Ottomans pushing into the Balkans and close to the gates of Vienna, Europeans had to reduce their own territorial infighting in order to address this external existential threat. Murat notes that while the Roman Church’s monopoly had come under challenge prior to the Protestant Reformation (e.g., the Hussites and Lollards), the definitive Protestant break fostered by Martin Luther was catalyzed by the Ottoman threat. While acknowledging the role of the printing press and other explanations for Protestant success, Prof. Iyigun argues that military advances by the Ottomans forced Europeans to temper their own intra-faith hostilities and conflict, which in turn gave Christian dissenters a chance to take hold and expand on the continent. His empirical work on the frequency and duration of intra-European conflict compared against Ottoman advances, along with qualitative evidence in the documents of Prince Ferdinand and others, shows this hypothesis to be rather convincing.

We move next to a set of miscellaneous (albeit important) questions about how this may have impacted the different economic development trajectories of the two regions — Europe and the Middle East. Tony asks whether the threat of Europe, particularly in the form of The Crusades, might have played a similar galvanizing role in Ottoman economic development. Interestingly, it does not and Murat explains what happens when the dominant power in the region faces such threats. He notes three phases — denial that a threat exists, a conservative revival to “restore historic greatness” leading to a reliance on old institutions not suited for a new reality, and then finally emulation of the institutions of the rising power. We also talk about another interesting facet of his book — the role of harem politics. While most of his book is macro-historical, he does devote time to looking into the micro-foundations of military decisions in the Ottoman Caliphate and develops a fascinating thesis. Here he argues that the nature of dynastic succession relied upon births that were from captured concubines and slave women, often from Christian lands (sometimes as far away as France). He tests whether the heritage of the mothers of various sultans played a role in determining where military campaigns would take place. Interestingly, valide sultans (queen mothers) who came from Christian regions (although who also converted to Islam), had an influence in tamping down military incursions into Europe. While only a side chapter in Murat’s book, this may be one of the most interesting and surprising findings of his study (at least to Tony, who notes that “Moms matter” in history).

Prof. Iyigun finishes off with some broad lessons he learned from his decade-long study of this topic. He notes that institutional, particularly informal (cultural) institutional, context is very important for structuring political and economic histories. He also notes that while economic competition in a globalizing world is often viewed positively, cultural/ideological competition should be viewed the same way. Finally, he learned that in a globalizing world, religion may become a more important focal point for bringing people together than nationalisms, a thesis advanced earlier by Samuel Huntington but which Murat intends to explore further in a more rigorous fashion. And last, but not least, Murat talks about his love of the blues and how he came to play in the band Barrel of Blues, and then treats us to his own composition — Muqarnas. Enjoy! Recorded: July 8, 2015.

War, Peace, & Prosperity in the Name of God: The Ottoman Role in Europe’s Socioeconomic Evolution, by Murat Iyigun.

Barrel of Blues (great tunes can be found here).

RELATED PODCASTS

Jared Rubin on Christian and Islamic Economic History.

Timur Kuran on Islamic Law & Economic Development.

Timur Kuran on Islamic Economics.

John Owen IV on Confronting Political Islam, Historical Lessons.

Matthew Derrick on the Geography of the Umma.

Mark Koyama on the Economics of Jewish Expulsions.

Rodney Stark on the Crusades.

Carrie Miles on Religion, Gender, and Missionaries

tonygill — Sun, 31 May 2015 08:00:50 +0000

What is the relationship between religion, economics, and gender? Dr. Carrie Miles — senior scholar in residence at Chapman University and non-resident scholar at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion — discusses her path-breaking work on this topic, as well as her work as executive director of Empower International Ministries. Our conversation winds through Mormon theology, Genesis, the industrial revolution, and countries in Africa to explore how both economic production and theology can shape gender roles throughout history.

The podcast begins with Carrie reminiscing on how she started in such an interesting, and underexplored, topic. She recounts her Mormon roots and curiosity about the reshaping of gender roles in the LDS Church during the 1970s when she was working on her dissertation in organizational psychology at the University of Chicago. This discussion takes us on a path of examining how agrarian production in the household defined gender roles and how the industrial revolution, which took more and more production away from the home, impacted these traditional roles. We talk about everything from the work of Gary Becker to the transformative effect of the plow.

We next turn to some theology of gender, focusing on the first three chapters of Genesis. Carrie describes how the development of economic scarcity that arises when humans leave the Garden of Eden had an impact on shaping our understanding of the economic positions of men and women. She contrasts this with more egalitarian gender roles noted in the first two chapters of Genesis. Emphasis is placed upon the notion of “The Curse” in Genesis 3, as this will become important in our later discussion of Christian missionaries and their impact in Africa. We then do move on to a discussion of missionaries and how their biblical translations affected the economic and cultural structure of various African nations. Given that agriculture in Africa was still largely viewed as women’s work during the 19th and 20th centuries, whereas the plow had made it more of man’s work in Europe, missionaries preaching the Book of Genesis had the unintended effect of reinforcing agrarian gender roles at a time when household production was changing. Dr. Miles recounts a number of stories from her own personal work in Africa as to how such interpretations were seen.

We finish with a discussion of the work Carrie does with Empower International Ministries, which places a focus on gender issues as part of its general missionary strategy, and also what she has learned via the course of her studies. Recorded: May 20, 2015.

The Redemption of Love: Rescuing Marriage and Sexuality from the Economics of a Fallen World, by Carrie Miles.

Empower International Ministries.

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Proselytism, Humanitarianism, and Development: A Panel Discussion.

Rebecca Shah on Religion and the Enterprising Poor in India.

Robert Woodberry on Missionaries and Democracy.

Terry Olsen on Faith-Based Humanitarianism and World Vision.

Allison Pond on Being a Mormon Missionary.

Carmel Chiswick on the Economics of Being Jewish in America.

tonygill — Sun, 12 Apr 2015 08:00:51 +0000

What are the various cost constraints with being Jewish in America? Prof. Carmel Chiswick, a research professor of economics at George Washington University, uses the lens of economics to reveal the various constraints facing a religious minority in the United States and how this affects Jewish culture. We walk through her latest book Judaism in Transition: How Economic Choices Shape Religious Tradition.

We start the conversation with a general overview of Jews in America, including the size of the population, their immigration history, and other demographic features. It is pointed out that Jews are both an ethnic group, and a group with a distinct religion. We chat a bit about how Jewish (in terms of religion) Jews are in America. Prof. Chiswick then discusses the difference between Great Tradition and small tradition Judaism. The former focuses on the essential religious components of Judaism, including the Torah, Talmud, Mishnah and several key holy days. Small tradition Judaism, on the other hand, is a reflection of different cultural practices and emphases that can vary across different groups of Jews (e.g., Spehardi or Ashkenazi) and across time. This is mixed with some personal reflection on her own life growing up Jewish, which gives this academic topic a much more personal touch. Carmel explains why she chose to write her book with these personal stories, noting that she uses economics everyday to understand her own daily choices.

We then begin a discussion of how economics is used to explain Jewish behavior and traditions. Carmel gives us a good introduction of how actions not only have a financial cost but a time cost as well, resulting in what economists call the “full price” (or “real cost”). She points out that there are a variety of constraints on Jews in America that affect how they make decisions about worship and other aspects of life. For example, as an individual becomes wealthier, the cost of their time also increases and this has an impact on how synagogue worship has been conducted given that Jews have been an upwardly mobile community. We also talk about the issue of human capital and education and the constrained choices that have to be made here. Carmel reflects upon her family’s decision whether to send their children to Hebrew or public school, as well as the reliance upon summer camps and other activities that are designed to preserve Jewish religious culture in an environment where time becomes more valuable for professional parents.

Carmel next lays out some of the contemporary challenges facing Jews in America. Most notable among these challenges are the new demographic categories that are emerging, principally “young adult singles” and “empty nesters.” With marriage ages increasing quite substantially over the past few decades, there is a growing population of individuals in their 20s and early 30s who are not married, do not have children, and who do not feel as connected to the synagogue. Whereas people often connect with religious institutions when they have children, and synagogues often cater to the needs of this group, the decade or so wherein individuals are not married or having children becomes a time when they can drift away from their faith. We also discuss the issue of intermarriage and how that might affect the Jewish population in the future. Interestingly, the rise of “young adult singles” also gives rise to another demographic group known as “empty nesters” who are not actively raising kids yet are not grandparents either. Once again, this becomes a life cycle point where people do not feel as connected to the synagogue. (Note: These issues arise again in next week’s podcast with Daniel Libenson, who discusses some attempts to deal with this new environment.)

We finish off with some of Carmel’s personal observations on what she has learned in her years studying the economics of religion, being Jewish in America, and writing her highly readable book. Recorded: April 7, 2015.

Judaism in Transition: How Economic Choices Shape Religious Tradition, by Carmel U. Chiswick.

Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture (ASREC).

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Carmel Chiswick on the Economics of American Judaism.

Daniel Libenson on the Jewish Future (forthcoming April 19).

Linda Weiser Friedman on Jewish Humor.

Colleen Haight on Jewish Peddlers in 19th Century America.

Jeff Levin on Judaism and Health.

Mark Glickman on the Cairo Genizah.

Mark Koyama on the Economics of Jewish Expulsions.