Social Sciences and Economics

The Implied Statistical Report 2011

April 11, 2012 | 30 comments
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The Implied Statistical Report 2011

Over the past few years I’ve put together an analysis of the cumulative information in the Church’s statistical reports. Three years ago I posted The Implied Statistical Report, 2008, and last year I titled my analysis The Implied Statistical Report, 2010. Over this time I’ve tried to improve my methods and the data available, collecting data from a few different sources. This year I’ve again looked at the data and discovered something unexpected: The Church’s real growth is actually faster in the U.S. and Canada than it is in the rest of the world. 4 people like this post.... Read more »

Taxing the United Order

February 28, 2012 | 23 comments
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Taxing the United Order

The United Order appears (for now, at least) to be a relic of the 19th century; since them, the mainstream Mormon church hasn't attempted to institute any large-scale communal economic structure based on Acts 2. And, frankly, I don't have any reason to think that it will in the 21st century; the Law of Consecration seems to be something different than economic communalism (though economic communalism fits within the Law of Consecration). Read more »

Sex-Ed and Social Justice*

January 10, 2012 | 30 comments
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***WARNING: This post mentions sex. I use the word a lot in this post. If that makes you uncomfortable, this may not be the post for you.*** Over the summer, the Bloomberg administration announced that, for the first time in two decades, public school students in New York would be required to take sex-ed. The curriculum the administration recommended---HealthSmart (middle school and high school) and Reducing the Risk---include, among other things, lessons on abstinence and birth control. Read more »

Interest Never Sleeps

December 9, 2011 | 18 comments
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Hypothetical: Alex and Pat both want a Kindle Fire. Alex goes to the local brick-and-mortar Amazon store, pays $200 cash, and takes a Kindle Fire home. Pat goes to the bank, gets a loan for $200, goes to the local brick-and-mortar Amazon store, pays the $200, and takes a Kindle Fire home. Who made the better decision? *** In the Church, we’re suspicious of debt. Sure, we get a pass on student loans, a modest house, a first car, but, as a general rule, our leaders discourage incurring consumer debt, and celebrate those who have escaped debt’s clutches. Having... Read more »

Politics and Members of the Church

November 11, 2011 | 19 comments
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The Catholic church, that is. Read more »

Utah Women in the Labor Market

November 4, 2011 | 41 comments
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The Atlantic Cities, currently one of my favorite sites, has, over the last several days, run a series looking into the best states for working women (both generally and in the "creative class"). What leaped out at me: Utah's a pretty bad place to be a working woman. Read more »

Mormons and Muslims

October 24, 2011 | 62 comments
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Mormons and Muslims

I had a university professor who lived in Iran and ran a television program dedicated to classical Persian music prior to the Islamic revolution. He spent a lot of time during the seventies crossing sketchy borders into various ‘Stans. One of his tools for successful border crossing (not to mention survival) was a pamphlet he wrote himself, highlighting similarities between Mormons and Muslims; things like a founding prophet, directly revealed scripture, fasting, and polygamy. I was intrigued by his comparisons, and this class was one of the many things that prompted me to study Arabic and learn more about Islam.... Read more »

The Church and Taxes

September 29, 2011 | 25 comments
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The Church and Taxes

The Church cares about taxes. It doesn’t really seem to care about the details of tax policy, of course. I’ve never seen the Church weigh in on the appropriate tax rate, tax base, or even the appropriate type(s) of tax (e.g., an income or consumption tax, a retail sales tax or a VAT, or whatever) a government should impose. But still, it makes explicit and implicit nods that indicate that, ultimately, it cares both about its tax position and that of its members. The Church and (Its) Taxes Like (essentially) every other church in the U.S., the LDS church is... Read more »

Consumerism vs. Stewardship

September 26, 2011 | 79 comments
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The following is a modified excerpt from my presentation at Sunstone this summer. We live, not only in a capitalist, but a consumerist, society. Our society is all about spending, acquiring, cluttering, and replacing, not about maintaining, restoring, renewing, and protecting. It is cheaper to buy new than to repair old.  We live in a disposable country, where everything is trash, if not now, then soon. How did we get here? One of the best explanations I’ve found is in the work of the social theorist Max Weber (1). He examined the correlation between the Protestant religious belief and... Read more »

Desert and a Just Society

September 18, 2011 | 99 comments
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The 2010 poverty level in the U.S., we learned on Tuesday, is the highest it has been since 1993. In 2010, about one in six Americans lived below the poverty line. In June, 14.6% of Americans received food stamps. To some extent, the high poverty rate is probably related to the high unemployment rate, which was 9.1% in August. I throw out all of these numbers to suggest that, as a society, we have a problem. That problem needs to be fixed. And we, as Mormons, undoubtedly have something that we can bring to the discussion of how to... Read more »

Mormonism and Social Justice

September 12, 2011 | 64 comments
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Recently, we’ve seen some distrust of religions that advocate social justice, from sources as diverse as the political punditry and lay Mormons. The criticism is unfounded, of course, and strikes me as ahistorical and anti-Catholic. The term “social justice” comes from 1840, when the Jesuit scholar Luigi Taparelli as he worked through the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. As you look at Jesuit schools’ mission statements, you begin to understand how central social justice is to the Jesuit identity. I teach at a Jesuit law school. Part of our mission is to “prepare graduates who will be ethical advocates for justice and... Read more »

What If President Monson Endorsed Mitt Romney?

July 19, 2011 | 37 comments
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What If President Monson Endorsed Mitt Romney?

In his talk at the close of the April 2008 General Conference, President Monson talked about the blessing we had received, both as members of the Church and, specifically, over the course of the conference. He ended his talk with counsel: parents are to love and cherish their children, youth are to keep the commandments, those who can attend the temple should, and we should all be aware of each other’s needs. But what if, in closing his remarks, President Monson had said, “My dear brothers and sisters, I feel strongly that Mitt Romney is the best person to... Read more »

The Parable of the Talented Endowment Tax

July 14, 2011 | 51 comments
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Governments impose taxes in order to raise revenue that, in turn, funds government function and services. In designing a tax system, tax theorists generally try to create provisions that will raise revenue without significantly altering taxpayers’ economic choices. That is, ideally, taxpayers will act in approximately the same way as they would have in a world without tax. But we can’t hit the ideal. The income tax alters people’s actions, because it alters the price calculus. One way is in our work-leisure decisions. Assume with me that I earn $10 an hour. That said, I enjoy not working, too–my... Read more »

Faith frames the pie, and other reasons to be grateful

November 24, 2010 | 2 comments
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Faith frames the pie, and other reasons to be grateful

Today I, with millions of other home cooks around the country, will be getting frisky in the kitchen with all manner of saturated fats and simple carbohydrates as I beget a table full of gorgeous harvest pies. I make pie once a year, the day before Thanksgiving; the rest of the year I prefer my saturated fats and simple carbohydrates in other forms. But at about 4:00 on Thanksgiving Day, surrounded by a riot of dirty dishes and family, there’s nothing in this world or out of it that tastes better. Social scientists would call my Thanksgiving palate a... Read more »

Zion and the Limits of Intellectual Agrarianism

June 7, 2010 | 38 comments
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Zion and the Limits of Intellectual Agrarianism

There is a strand of progressive Mormon thinking that associates Zion with an exaltation of agrarian virtues.  I am thinking here of folks like Hugh Nibley or Arthur Henry King or my friend Russell Arben Fox who argue that small scale, local economies, ideally based in large part on agriculture provide the best possible model for building Zion.  At least one way of understanding this line of thinking is to see it as a kind of Mormonization of agrarian thinkers like Wendell Berry.  It is striking in this regard that Leonard Arrington, whose works on nineteenth-century Mormon communitarianism provide... Read more »

The Tebows and Other Good Omens

February 3, 2010 | 92 comments
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The Tebows and Other Good Omens

I never expected to see the day that Kate Michelman, past president of NARAL, would write, “all sorts of well-educated and progressive people are comfortable calling themselves pro-life.” Michelman’s opinion piece in the Washington Post is fascinating not only for her openly acknowledging the eroding support for her movement (she says recent polls shows 51% of Americans identify with the label “pro-life” and only 44% with “pro-choice”; the pro-life number would be a historical high), but by how hamstrung she feels defending abortion. She attributes the shift in public opinion primarily to technological progress: “cience played a big role,... Read more »

Charity Free Riding

December 15, 2009 | 17 comments
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Charity Free Riding

As we all know, the gospel is overrun with economic doctrine.  On that note, I noticed a quote about free riding from President Monson (which I just saw at Mormon Times): “I am confident it is the intention of each member of the church to serve and to help those in need,” he said. “At baptism we covenanted to ‘bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light.’ How many times has your heart been touched as you have witnessed the need of another? How often have you intended to be the one to help? And yet how often... Read more »

Explaining the Puzzle of Cross-State Differences in Bankruptcy Rates

June 30, 2009 | 39 comments
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Bankruptcy rates vary alot across states.  With a fairly simple statistical model, Lars Lefgren and I explain about 70% of these differences in a paper just published in the Journal of Law and Economics.   For cross sectional work using survey data, where you are looking across states at a point in time, explaining 70% is pretty darn impressive. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »

Morality Polling

June 29, 2009 | 11 comments
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Suppose you take a “wisdom of the crowds” approach to morality (not that you should). Well then what could be more informative than a poll telling you what actions are morally wrong and what aren’t? Enter Gallup’s recent poll… Tip: Adultery is still wrong. Polygamy also out. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »

Commuter trains in Utah

June 12, 2009 | 147 comments
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I just returned from a short presentation by Mike Ransom on the Utah commuter Frontrunner rail line.  It is a lesson in how to not spend money. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »

The Economics of Service and Welfare

May 12, 2009 | 70 comments
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The Economics of Service and Welfare

A friend of mine suggested a few months ago that ward Elder’s Quorums should stop helping members move. Why, he asks, should we be competing with businesses in our area? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »

Optimal Tithing

May 11, 2009 | 28 comments
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Suppose that we had a base 8 system instead of base 10, perhaps because, in this hypothetical world, we had 8 fingers rather than 10. Would we pay 1/8 our increase, or do you think it would still be one tenth? Or, to reverse causality, what are the chances we have ten fingers so that we’d develop a base 10 system that would make it easier to count out our tithing? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »

Dow 6,000

March 30, 2009 | 14 comments
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One of the things people find odd about Mormons is our claim to be led by a prophet. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »

Are Mormons Crazy for Porn?

March 2, 2009 | 67 comments
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A study has looked at what percent of broadband users in an area also subscribe to a particular network of paid online pornography. Articles about the study have suggested that conservative religious types, especially Mormons, are more likely to use porn. 9 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »

A Short Lesson on Multipliers

February 13, 2009 | 50 comments
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This is just a post about Keynesian mulitpliers with no particular religious content.  You have been warned and forewarned.   Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »

Expected Value of A Fetus

February 2, 2009 | 39 comments
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A thoughtful reader asked me if there were any economic tools that could be brought to bear in valuing a fetus.  Of course there are!  And in fewer than a 1000 words, no less! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »

The Political Uses of Debt and Mormon History

January 30, 2009 | 9 comments
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Yesterday’s discussion got me thinking about debt, in particular the political uses of debt.  Here, I think that the experience of the American Revolution and the failure of the Confederacy may have something to tell us about Mormon history. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »

A Nobel calling

October 13, 2008 | 24 comments
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I’m very happy to see this year’s Nobel Prize in economics going to Paul Krugman, whose columns in the New York Times helped me see the importance of the discipline of economics as nothing else ever had. I think Mormon scholarship could use more scholars like Paul Krugman (quite apart from the Nobel and the weekly NYT column) Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »

Returning to Zion

September 8, 2008 | 11 comments
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Given all that might be said of Mormonism, it should not come as a surprise that a lot of interesting topics sit pretty much neglected. One of these, I would argue, is the Mormon contribution to building settlements in the United States. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »

Global Warming, Redefining Marriage, and Risk Aversion

August 15, 2008 | 47 comments
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I think we can all agree that, from a risk analysis perspective, global warming and gay marriage share a lot of characteristics. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »

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Times and Seasons is a place to gather and discuss ideas of interest to faithful Latter-day Saints.

Notes from All Over

  • FPR Begins Series on Teaching Seminary (Ben S.)
  • This just in: Evidence the Arizona crazy disease is spreading to Utah (Dave)
  • Can We, Maybe, Rethink This? (Ben S.)
  • What Biblical Scholars Do (Ben S.)
  • Ed Harris on Mormon beliefs: “Out there, man. Just out there. Those guys … whew!” (Dave)
  • Church alters Bloch’s painting for modesty and theology (Wilfried)
  • High school (and seminary) student Jabari Parker on the cover of Sports Illustrated (ht Adam A.) (Sam)
  • Jabari Parker, ambassador of Mormonism (Sam)
  • Returning to church despite my doubts (not LDS, but telling) (Wilfried)
  • With or without Romney, D.C. a surprising Mormon stronghold (Wilfried)
  • Columnist misrepresents LDS Church doctrine and policy(Alison)
  • Talking to your pre-teens about pr0n, in the NYT (Ben S.)
  • Colbert lampoons McNaughton’s “subtlety”(Kent)
  • There are different rules for public discourse about Mormonism (Dave)
  • Church buys Haun’s Mill, other CoC properties. (Ben S.)
  • The perils of religious illustration, with special application to Mormonism (Dave)
  • Mormon poet named Utah’s Poet Laureate (Kent)
  • The Occupy movement hits Mormon books (Kent)
  • A glorious new age of Mormon visual displays! (Ben S.)
  • Pinewood Derby - how do you fix it? (Alison)

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