False economy What’s in it for me? Understand what makes the

Economy doesn’t care about religion.
How big a role does religion play in determining 
a nation’s economic success? It’s a question 
that has been written about since 1905, when 
German sociologist Max Weber suggested that 
Protestants were more successful in business 
than Catholics.
But history has gone on to prove Weber wrong.
Weber’s theories were based on the 19
th
-century 
successes of predominantly Protestant countries 
like England and the Netherlands. But, since 
then, the advancements of predominantly 
Catholic nations such as Italy, Spain and Ireland 
have shown these ideas to be flimsy.
Similar theories about the economic effect of 
religion on Asian and Middle Eastern countries 
have also been disproven.
In the 1980s, it was fashionable to look at the 
cultural traditions of Hong Kong and Taiwan as 
having an influence on their economic boom at 
the time. It was thought that their values, which 
emphasized social solidarity over individualism, 
were better suited to capitalism. Yet, the Asian 
financial crisis of the late 1990s proved that 
these countries were just as vulnerable to 
collapse as any other.
There have also been theories suggesting that 
Islamic countries like Afghanistan struggle with 
economic success more than others.
While it is possible that some Islamic societies 
are resistant to change and reform, the poor 
choices that these governments make are 

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largely unrelated to religion. For example, the 
governments of largely Islamic countries like 
Malaysia and Indonesia made markedly wise 
economic decisions.
It is too simplistic to look at religion as being the 
deciding factor in a country’s economic success 
or misfortune. Ultimately, it comes down to the 
important choices that government leaders 
make.