162. Benjamin Friedman — Religion and the Rise of Capitalism
The Michael Shermer Show
Michael Shermer
4.4 • 921 Ratings
🗓️ 6 March 2021
⏱️ 112 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In episode 162 of The Michael Shermer Show, Michael speaks with one of the nation’s preeminent experts on economic policy, Benjamin Friedman, about his new book Religion and the Rise of Capitalism — a major reassessment of the foundations of modern economic thinking that explores the profound influence of an until-now unrecognized force — religion.
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 Friedman demonstrates that religion exerted a powerful influence from the outset.
Transcript
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| 1:21.0 | Now, my guest today is Benjamin Friedman. His book is |
| 1:25.2 | Religion and the Rise of Capitalism. Benjamin Friedman is the William Joseph |
| 1:31.2 | Meyer professor of political economy and former Chairman of the Department of Economics at Harvard University |
| 1:36.7 | where he's taught for the nearly half a century. |
| 1:40.0 | Friedman's two previous general interest books are Day of Reckoning, The Consequences of American Economic Policy under Reagan and after, and the moral consequences of economic growth. |
| 1:52.0 | He has also written extensively on issues of economic |
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