Investors have too often extrapolated from recent experience. In the 1950s, who but the most rampant optimist would have dreamt that over the next fifty years the real return on equities would be 9% per year? Yet this is what happened in the U.S. stock market. The optimists triumphed. However,...

Religion, church, and economics -- The economics of religion -- Religious markets -- Religious form change: case studies -- Economics of the Protestant revolt -- The Counter-Reformation: incumbent-firm reaction to market entry -- The establishment and evolution of Protestantism -- Catholicism,...