Your tinfoil hats will not help you this time Originally published on the author’s Substack. Many of us hold strong religious beliefs. Religions are foundational not only for individuals; they support entire societies, preventing self-destruction by keeping perverse and antisocial behaviors in check. Religion is an ephemeral connection between humans and […]
Do We “Resemble” God?
And Did Thousands of Human Beings See God When He Gave Moses the Law? Yesterday evening the Jewish holiday of Shavuot began. This is one of the many Jewish holidays to which I, as a secularized Jew, have, for most of my life, paid almost no attention. The festival commemorates […]
Does Wealth Require Bad Government and Religious Extremism?
Does Wealth Require Bad Government and Religious Extremism? In a word, “Yes.” Imagine a nation, any nation, that suddenly stumbles upon vast quantities of unearned wealth; what would happen? Now, for our purposes, it doesn’t really matter what that unearned wealth might be – it could be a magic meteor […]
Is Morality Possible Without God?
Is Morality Possible Without God? Regardless, it’s more likely with him. Is morality possible without God? It’s an interesting question that has divided scholars for decades, if not centuries, but it’s largely irrelevant to economists; rather, as economists, we should be asking about the tradeoffs implied by the question: namely, […]