September 9, 2005--Gimme that Old-Time Happiness Insurance

In her NY Times column, Economic Scene, Virginia Postrel asks, “In Times of Stress, Can Religion Serve as Insurance?” Not “assurance” but “insurance.” (September 8, 2005; full article accessible below.)

Here’s how it works—Economists are increasingly interested in how families, friends, and religion might serve as economic safety nets during critical times. For example, killer hurricanes cause “nasty shocks” to individuals’ economic well being. That seems like a proverbial no-brainer. But as a result of these dislocating circumstances, does religion, say, help reconcile individuals to their radically altered circumstances? This too would appear to be a no-brainer: Of course we would expect that the devout might even see such disasters to be part of God’s Higher Plan, perhaps even as a sign of the Rapture, the Final Days, the Second Coming, Eternal Life. (As an aside, Condi Rice back home in Alabama last Sunday, at her hometown Baptist church offered the following consolation, “Be patient, Jesus will be here soon.” And she wasn’t referring to Dick Chaney!)

But read a little further. There is a black-white component to this as well. Here’s what the research says about that: Using religious attendance as their measure, researchers find “strikingly different results by race.” In times of economic shock, whites get no significant “happiness insurance” (I did not make up this phrase) while African Americans do. For blacks, just average church attendance reduces the “happiness impact” of economic shock by about 75 percent. And, it’s even better for those with a high school education or less.

To quote a former President Bush—Message to Blacks: To help prepare you for the effects of hurricanes such as Katrina, don’t wait for FEMA to get there but instead drop out of school and go to church regularly.

That’s it for this week. On Monday I promise to move on to a more entertaining subject—Obituaries. Actually, mine.

Enjoy the weekend.