Episode 033 - Waqas Ahmad; Religious Freedom and Economic Development. A Conceptual and Empirical Review

Waqas Ahmad is Assistant Professor at Faculty of Management Sciences, International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan. He consider himself as social scientist and interest in age old elusive question of why some nations are rich and others are poor. The complexity of the question require insights not only from economics but also from psychology, sociology, politics and history.

In his paper, the idea of religious freedom and its implications for economic growth will be identified and documented. The government restrictions and social hostilities involving religion has been increasing in the last few years across the globe. In the end, the lesson can be learned from country case studies, where by changing government regulations and social norms, they are able to reap the benefits of religious freedom.