[Elsie]

Or is it CAtholic culture?

It shouldn’t be TOO hard to compile a list of predominately Catholic countries to see.

[cynwoody]

Or is it CAtholic culture?

It shouldn’t be TOO hard to compile a list of predominately Catholic countries to see.

See the Wikipedia's sortable table. By percentage Catholic, the top ten countries with population over 10 million are Poland, Italy, the Philippines, Portugal, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, and Spain. Poland is 85.8% Catholic, and Spain 69.6%.

Those countries are not exactly stand-outs for economic growth and prosperity. But it is hard to see a specific Catholic reason for why.

What seems to be important in a culture conducive to economic growth is:

• A Stable political system
• The Rule of law
• Sanctity of contract
• Secure property rights

You need an atmosphere of trust, where strangers feel free to make deals to create enterprises, confident that they will be free to enjoy the returns of their investment.

It is no accident that the industrial revolution occurred in Great Britain, home of the Magna Carta. Nor is it an accident that the United States, inheriting the British tradition, became the world's number one nation.