[extropy-chat] extropy and other forces for good

[scerir]

> Two Harvard scholars have found that what really stimulates
> economic growth is whether you believe in an afterlife -
> especially hell.

The Vatican has two main sources of income, 
the Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR), and
the voluntary contributions known as 'Peter's pence'.
The IOR has attracted some controversy in recent years 
through the emergence of huge debts ... and allegations 
of corruption, etc. :-)
http://www.skolnicksreport.com/vaticanbank.html
http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/vatican2.htm
Hence I suppose that what really stimulates
economic growth is whether one believes ....
in a future, and in a memory.
s.