Economist Robert B. Ekelund is Lowder Eminent Scholar Emeritus at Auburn University in Auburn, Miss. His books include, as co-author, Sacred Trust: The Medieval Church as an Economic Firm (Oxford University Press, 1996). He has co-written a draft manuscript, Economics and Christianity. His paper “An Economic Analysis of the Protestant Reformation” was published in the 2002 Journal of Political […]

James Hudnut-Beumler is a professor of American religious history at the divinity school at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He co-edited the book The Future of Mainline Protestantism. He directed the Material History of American Religion Project, which focused on material objects and economic themes. He is an expert on the church, ethics, philanthropy and general […]

Barak D. Richman is a professor of law at Duke University in Durham, N.C. He has written the paper “How Community Institutions Create Economic Advantage: Jewish Diamond Merchants in New York.”

Robert D. Tollison, professor of economics at Clemson University in Clemson, S.C., has expertise in the economics of religion. His books include, as co-author, Sacred Trust: The Medieval Church as an Economic Firm (Oxford University Press, 1996). He has co-written a draft manuscript, Economics and Christianity.

Metin Cosgel is professor of economics and department head at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. His research interests include the economic history of the Ottoman Empire and the political economy of religion. He co-wrote the papers “Religious Identity and Consumption” and “Rationality, Integrity, and Religious Behavior.”

Lanse P. Minkler associate professors of economics at the University of Connecticut in Storrs and director of socio-economic rights at the Human Rights Institute there. He co-wrote the papers “Religious Identity and Consumption” and “Rationality, Integrity, and Religious Behavior.”

Richard Sosis is an anthropology professor at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Read a paper he co-authored, “Scars for War: Evaluating Alternative Signaling Explanations for Cross-cultural Variance in Ritual Costs.”

An Oct. 3, 2004, New York Times article.

A Dec. 6, 2004, BusinessWeek article.