"Why should fools have money in hand to buy wisdom, when they are not able to understand it?" - Proverbs 17:16
As a broad subject, Economics has mostly concerned itself with the production, consumption and transfer of wealth. However, researchers argue that explanations and analysis regarding economic growth should include cultural determinants such as traditions and religious practices. Culture may influence economic outcomes by affecting personal traits such as honesty, thrift, willingness to work hard, and openness to adapt. Thus, the culture and traditions of a particular area may have a large hand in influencing the size and characteristics of the economy of that area.
There are countless examples of religious practices and culture influencing one’s economy. For instance, one reason for Japan’s economic bubble of 1960s was the work culture and ideologies embedded into the people’s upbringing and and religious beliefs. This work culture promoted working as a group for the benefit of the society, resulting in increased and bettered output from the everyday person. Depending on the religion and the relating culture, the economy can have a positive or negative impact. The following two stories help in better explaining the given statement:
Positive Impact
In his book ‘Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’, sociologist Max Weber proposed that a Protestant ethic emphasising hard work, honesty, and deferred gratification ignited the Industrial Revolution in Western Europe. Protestant ethics had a large emphasis on hard and honest work which led the mindset perfect for the Industrial Revolution. This clearly indicates relation between religious/cultural values and economic outcomes. On the note of Christian beliefs and values, Harvard’s Rachel McCleary and Robert J. Barro, from the Department of Economics, conducted a study to explore the impact of religious ideas on a twenty-first century world. Their book ‘The Wealth of Religions’ outlines the findings which showed a positive relationship between belief in an afterlife—particularly in the idea of hell—and economic growth among churchgoers. In fact, even more than church attendance, faith in an afterlife correlates with economic advancement.
Negative Impact
Religious impact on economy can be seen from back in the 18th century through the difference of perspectives between Jews and Christians. While Jews had beliefs that allowed them to lend money on interest, the papacy of the 18th century had prohibited the act of usury. This prevented Christians from lending money on interest as it was considered a sin. Additionally, since Jews were already marginalised in societies, moneylending became a popular career for them, helping them gain rich positions in the society. One good example of this is that of Sir Moses Montefiore, a British financier of Jewish decent, who rose to direct the financial policies of many countries. A popular literary reference is from Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’ where the antagonist, Shylock, is a Jewish moneylender. In the long run, such religious differences may create economical differences too.
Thus, we can see how faith and religious beliefs influence the economy. However, religion itself has a role to play within the economy, and the best example of this is seen through the many religions in India.
In India, religion truly is omnipresent, and you needn’t go far to see how deeply it is ingrained in each and every aspect of our daily lives. As a secular country, India has six major religions and several other minor ones. But apart from its emotional and spiritual aspect, religion in India also plays an economical role, involving large revenues, budgets, assets and expenditures. It is also a large consumer of certain goods and provides employment (either directly or indirectly) to hundreds of people. A few important points below give a clearer picture of its large economical role:
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the trust that governs the world famous shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala Hills, had presented its budget for 2020-21. The budget proposals envisage a total revenue of about Rs 3,310 crore.
The estimated cost of building the entire complex on the Ram Janambhoomi, including the famed Ram temple, approximates Rs 1,100 crore.
The Golden Temple in Amritsar has assets worth Rs 320 crore, with several coats of pure gold over various parts of the temple.
Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple, popular as one of the richest temples in the world, has total assets worth Rs 90,000 crores including gold, gold idols, antique silver, emeralds, diamonds and brass.
Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine generates a revenue of approximately Rs 500 crore per annum.
The large numbers above make it clear that religion is a massive industry that has a strong importance in the Indian economy. To put things into perspective, the Lord Venkateswara temple has a larger revenue (Rs 3000 crore) than the Birla Corporation’s annual turnover (Rs 2000 crore). Similarly, Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple has assets (90000 crore) of the same value as the recent relief package issued by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman to support the entire power distribution sector of India. Additional expenses include religious tourism, music, television, apparel and accessories.
The current religious music industry has a revenue of Rs 400 crore per annum, approximately 20% of the Indian music industry.
Pilgrimage tourism constitutes nearly 15% of the Indian tourism industry and earns Rs 2.54 lakh crore per annum.
Religion holds an extremely important position in the world spiritually and materialistically. Hence, we can see that religion and faith plays an important role in our lives and economy, but both influencing it as well as playing a part within it. In the advancing times, with a myriad of perspectives and solutions to any problem, it is increasingly important for us to consider this unlikely role that religion plays in order to better understand the big-picture of the economy.
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