At the Altar of Wall Street: The Rituals, Myths, Theologies, Sacraments, and Mission of the Religion Known as the Modern Global Economy

Lutheran pastor Gustafson (Biblical Amnesia) makes an intellectually cluttered case that economics is a contemporary religion, complete with prophets (Karl Marx), congregations (corporations), rituals (holiday shopping to revive the economic god), myths (the "invisible hand" theorized by Adam Smith), and other religious characteristics. Gustafson makes many intriguing comparisons, but his presentation is baggy to the point of incoherence. He goes all the way back to the agricultural revolution of pre-history to make a far-ranging argument about money, social transformation, and the commodification of food and its relationship to morality, a subject big enough for it's own book. A chapter about globalization knits together trade agreements, Monsanto and genetic engineering, and contemporary food production. Gustafson's stance wavers between descriptive and critical; he recounts both socialist and capitalist "terrorism" and characterizes business schools as harmful, but offers vague and theoretical "demythologization" as a solution. The worship of mammon is as old as the Bible; this disappointing book needs conceptual focus to move beyond what's already been said. (Oct.)