That’s one of the reasons a lot of Medieval kingdoms kept Jews around despite despising and occasionally massacring them- they could make loans. Of course, that’s where the “Jewish banker” antisemitic trope came from.
Isn’t that passage lifted directly from the torah, though? Why doesn’t everybody abide by it? Islam isn’t too keen on interest either, as I recall. It is a peculiar thing.
Lending without interest discourages lending, which is actually really terrible for even pre-modern economies. Money gets hoarded by the rich instead of at least used in some capacity by the rich. Cultures which maintain that absolute stance on interest are often overtaken by similar cultures which do not maintain that stance, because a functioning finance system, even in its most primitive form, is a huge advantage.
That’s one of the reasons a lot of Medieval kingdoms kept Jews around despite despising and occasionally massacring them- they could make loans. Of course, that’s where the “Jewish banker” antisemitic trope came from.
Isn’t that passage lifted directly from the torah, though? Why doesn’t everybody abide by it? Islam isn’t too keen on interest either, as I recall. It is a peculiar thing.
The key is ‘to one of my people’ here. You can charge interest, just not to your fellow countryman.
Edited to add: There is more far nuance to this than I’m familiar with, but I’m pretty sure that’s the basic idea.
Two reasons:
Lending without interest discourages lending, which is actually really terrible for even pre-modern economies. Money gets hoarded by the rich instead of at least used in some capacity by the rich. Cultures which maintain that absolute stance on interest are often overtaken by similar cultures which do not maintain that stance, because a functioning finance system, even in its most primitive form, is a huge advantage.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$