The Protestant Work Ethic, Libertarianism, and the Welfare State — Crooked Timber

The Protestant Work Ethic, Libertarianism, and the Welfare State — Crooked Timber

Many thanks to Hannah for her beautiful post on George Eliot’s Silas Marner and the evacuation of moral purpose from the Protestant work ethic. That resonates with Hijacked, my latest book, which traces the history of the work ethic from 17th century Puritan theologians, through the economic theory and policy debates of the 18th and 19th centuries, to today. I argue that the work ethic split into two versions during the Industrial Revolution. On…