who renounce worldly wealth, but many Hindus also appeal to Lakshmi, the
goddess of wealth and prosperity, for divine support in business life.
Confucianism emphasizes hard work and frugality but also stresses the superi-
ority of scholarship over business and conformity over individualism and inno-
vation. Islam does not look down on trade – its founding prophet, Muhammad,
was a merchant – but it has been interpreted in ways that restrict the ability of
women to engage in economic activity (Chang, 2007).
Culture changes
We may be tempted to think in terms of a cultural explanation for current
economic issues such as the Eurozone debt and banking crisis. We could
contrast the industrious frugal Germans (with a strong fiscal/debt profile) with
the ill-disciplined fun-loving Italians (who are facing a debt crisis). These
stereotypes have changed. The historian of the Roman Empire, Edward
Gibbon, wrote that ‘the German ... passed their lives in a state of ignorance
and poverty ... consumed his days and nights in the animal gratifications of
sleep and food ... they delight in sloth ... these barbarians were immoderately
addicted to deep gaming and excessive drinking’ (1776: 235–8). Of the Italian
Roman army he wrote,‘he promised never to desert his standard, to submit his
own will to the commands of his leaders,and to sacrifice his life for the safety
of the emperor and the empire. The attachment of the Roman troops to their
standards was inspired by the united influence of religion and honour’ (p. 39).
As recently as a century ago the Germans were still regarded by some as being
lazy, individualistic, emotional, stupid, dishonest and easy-going (Chang,
2007).
How have the respective cultures of the Italians and German changed so
much? What may at a quick glance be thought of as laziness can be a product
of underlying economic circumstances. Many people in developing countries
work very long hours but without any sense of industrial time – there is no such
thing as a 9 to 5 working day – and many are underemployed in inherently low-
productivity occupations. What we call ‘rational economic thinking’ has
developed as a result of the rise of modern corporate organizations which
require the strict measurement of output, productivity and profits. When the
reasonable expectation in a poor developing country is that nothing will
change, there is no need to rationally plan for the future and there are few
financial instruments (such as insurance or savings accounts in banks) with
which to do so. Cultural habits have also tended to respond rapidly to the pres-
sures of economic growth and development – people develop strict routines
and work hard when required to do so by being employed in a modern factory.
These arguments return us to the ideas of Marx, for whom culture was a reflec-
tion of underlying economic change.
One striking prediction based on a cultural analysis concerned the likely
ev olution of fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa. Caldwell and Caldwell argued that
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