The Crossroads of Poverty and Prosperity: The Impact of Religious Beliefs and Worldviews on Economic Outcomes

The Crossroads of Poverty and Properity carefully investigates how both secular and religious beliefs – and the values emanating from them – may well be the ultimate arbiters of both poverty and prosperity. After summarizing research on the relationship between religious beliefs and economic outcomes, it provides an easy-to-understand interdisciplinary model of the process by which individuals, families, businesses, not-for-profits and governments end up contributing to, impeding, or undermining wealth creation and economic development By using examples from many religions and countries, and focusing especially on two belief systems that have been disproportionately influential in the development of the global market economy – Secularism and Christianity, the model identifies civil society, entrepreneurship and seven key “pro-development worldview elements” as essential to healthy economies.