Can religion - the most complex of intangible products, with the smallest empirical evidence of success - be on the comeback? Indeed it looks that way. Consider this from John Micklthwaite:

"From Sri Lanka to Baghdad new wars of religion have appeared; from Washington to Delhi there are huge arguments about faith's role in the public square. Religion has returned to the stage as a much more democratic, individualistic affair: a bottom-up marketing success, surprisingly in tune with globalisation. That is a welcome change, but it does not make it easy for politicians to deal with."

If so, then it should give hope to the purveyors of another intangible service: financial advice. Clutching our advice processes like articles of faith we cheerfully proffer our services. Investment advisers, in particular, with no end of research are yet to conclusively prove the value that advice adds. So perhaps they should be lined up alongside Priests, Rabbis, and Imams. As a person of faith myself I consider them valuable, but can't quite prove exactly why.