
Billy Joel sang that he would "rather laugh with
the sinners than cry with the saints" because "sinners are much more fun." Does it ever seem to you that the bad guys have more fun and get ahead, the ones who lie, cheat and steal? There may be evidence to refute that. Can going to church make really make you richer?
"Yes," says David Futrelle in Money, "assuming you don’t blow all your cash on helping the poor. A study by MIT economist Jonathan Gruber concludes that doubling church attendance raises income by 10 percent. Why? He suggests three possibilities: church-goers generate social capital by schmoozing, they offer one another assistance in recovering from setbacks, and last, they are less stressed by everyday worries."





