Indiana University East’s School of Business and Economics Business Speaker Series presents Daniel Hungerman, Ph.D., a professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame.

Dan Hungerman, Ph.D., professor of economics at Notre Dame University.

Hungerman will virtually present “Opiates of the Masses? Deaths of Despair and the Decline of American Religion” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 13 on IU East Facebook Live at  https://www.facebook.com/events/440864203864652.

The lecture is part of IU East’s School of Business and Economics Business Speaker Series. The presentation is free and open to the public.

A question and answer period will follow Hungerman’s presentation. Viewers will be able to submit their questions via the comments section on Facebook Live.

Hungerman’s discussion is based on his research and paper co-written with Tyler Giles, graduate student at the University of Notre Dame, and Tamar Oostrom, assistant professor of economics at The Ohio State University.

In recent decades, the U.S. death rates from poisonings, suicides, and alcoholic liver disease have dramatically increased. The researchers show that the initial rise in these deaths of despair was preceded by a large decline in organized religion, and that both trends were driven by white middle-aged Americans. Using the repeal of blue laws as an exogenous shock to religiosity, they confirm that religious practice can have significant effects on these mortality rates. Their findings show that cultural factors such as organized religion can play an important role in our understanding of deaths of despair.

The Business Speaker Series is sponsored by the Charles Koch Foundation. Co-sponsored by Delta Mu Delta, IU East Center for Economic Education, and the IU East Business and Economic Research Center.