One of the amazing chapters in American history, is how corporate and financial interests have been able to win the tortuous compliance, even allegiance, of American Christianists to an economic theory that at its core can be described as godless materialism, perhaps even satanist, since it worships as causal effect some of mankind's basest instincts and motivations.

Fortunately, this remarkable suborning of American Christianity is beginning to be written: see, for example, Kevin Phillips, American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century, or Craig Unger, The Fall of the House of Bush: The Untold Story of How a Band of True Believers Seized the Executive Branch, Started the Iraq War, and Still Imperils America's Future.

More directly to the essence of this excellent diary, I would draw attention to the works of 19th century German economist Friedrich List,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_List
and 19th century American economist Henry Charles Carey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Charles_Carey
Both can be seen as forerunners of an Institutionalist Political Economy.