Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (2021) by Benjamin Friedman

[jserraglio]

Friedman argues that modern economic thinking has been heavily influenced not just by the Enlightenment but by religious ideas, especially the Protestant Evangelical Movement. The evangelicals, in particular those in America, replaced Calvinist determinism (the doctrine of predestination) with an affirmation of radical individual freedom c/w a deep mistrust of the powers of the central government (e.g., its welfare system and power of taxation).