God as an Insurance Policy

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Belinda: People all over the world spend a lot of money on religion, but there's not that much economic research on it. She says an economics paper called God ensures those who pay suggests church donations are like insurance premiums. Belinda: In places like Ghana and Nigeria, there isn't that much formal insurance that you can buy or that the government will provide for you. The idea is maybe the church is filling that gap in some way.

A great economics paper does two things. It takes on a big question, and it finds a smart way to answer that question.

But some papers go even further. The very best papers have the power to change lives.That was the case for three economists we spoke to: Nancy Qian, Belinda Archibong, and Kyle Greenberg.

They all stumbled on important economics papers at crucial moments in their careers, and those papers gave them a new way to see the world. On today's show - how economics papers on the Pentecostal church in Ghana, the Vietnam war draft, and the price of butter in Sweden shaped the courses of three lives.

This episode was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Keith Romer. Sierra Juarez checked the facts, and it was mastered by Natasha Branch with help from Gilly Moon. Jess Jiang is our acting executive producer.

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