ABSTRACT
This chapter concentrates on the impact of religion on society, politics and economics. The chapter introduces a number of variables measuring economic growth in various ways in order to inquire into the economic outcomes of religion as culture. Weber argued that the rise of modern capitalism as an economic system was influenced by the emergence of Protestantism in Northern Europe and North America. He generalized the finding into a comparative historical assessment of the world religions, examining Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Judaism in depth, but not Islam, aiming at the conclusion that none of the world religions had the same impact as Protestantism. If religion matters for democracy, then it will have an impact upon democracy in addition to the standard association between democracy and affluence. Ethnicity has more impact in Spain and in India while the impact of religion and ethnicity is equally strong in Belgium. Religion matters more in Belgium, Spain, the USA than in India or Russia.
