Money Does Not Grow on Trees: An Argument for Usury

Usury, charging a higher interest rate than thought by some to be “fair,” has had and still has, a bad press. Historically, it was heavily punished. It was then, and all too often is now, thought to be exploitative. Yet, as even the most economically unsophisticated must realize, both sides of these...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Labat, Alyssa (Author) ; Block, Walter E. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V 2012
In: Journal of business ethics
Year: 2012, Volume: 106, Issue: 3, Pages: 383-387
Further subjects:B E51
B Lending
B Borrowing
B Economic Freedom
B Usury
B E4
B Free Enterprise
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Summary:Usury, charging a higher interest rate than thought by some to be “fair,” has had and still has, a bad press. Historically, it was heavily punished. It was then, and all too often is now, thought to be exploitative. Yet, as even the most economically unsophisticated must realize, both sides of these transactions must necessarily gain at least in the ex ante sense, otherwise one or the other would refuse to enter into the deal in the first place. The present paper is an attempt to justify the practice of charging interest on loans, at any rate agreeable to both borrowers and lenders.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10551-011-1003-x