----- Original Message ----- From: fabio guillermo rojas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Example from my professional life: As is probably obvious, I'm not > an economist - I'm a sociologist who takes economics very seriously > and I sometimes use economic tools in my research. So I'm always > in a position of explaining economic ideas to non-economists and I > frequently find that people tend to avoid economic issues.
Rodney Stark and some other sociologists have very fruitfully used supply and demand for public goods to explain the rise and fall of religious bodies. They also discuss religious entrepreneurship and the attempt to impose religious monopolies or religious cartels to fend off competition. This school has also explained the secularization of western Europe as a supply side failure. Within this genre, I regard Stark and Bainbridge's _The Future of Religion_ as a latter day classic. Since many sociologists seem to have an aversion to both religion and economics, I wonder whether their studies have adversely affected their professional reputations. (Also, I regard Stark's textbook _Sociology_ as the only introductory sociology textbook so interesting it can be read for pleasure, but I don't think it is in print anymore.) ~Alypius Skinner
