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A short review of the historical critique of usury

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  • Wayne Visser
  • Alastair Macintosh

Abstract

Usury - lending at interest or excessive interest - has, according to known records, been practised in various parts of the world for at least four thousand years. During this time, there is substantial evidence of intense criticism by various traditions, institutions and social reformers on moral, ethical, religious and legal grounds. The rationale employed by these wide-ranging critics have included arguments about work ethic, social justice, economic instability, ecological destruction and inter-generational equity. While the contemporary relevance of these largely historical debates is not analysed in detail, the authors contend that their significance is greater than ever before in the context of the modern interest-based global economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Wayne Visser & Alastair Macintosh, 1998. "A short review of the historical critique of usury," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 175-189.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acbsfi:v:8:y:1998:i:2:p:175-189
    DOI: 10.1080/095852098330503
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Stefan Behringer, 2016. "The Development of the Net Present Value (NPV) Rule ¨C Religious Prohibitions and Its Evolution," Review of Economics & Finance, Better Advances Press, Canada, vol. 6, pages 74-87, August.
    3. Arend, Mario, 2009. "A Small Open Economy with Heterogenous Agents Facing Interest Rate Ceilings on Loans," MPRA Paper 19427, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Toms, J.S., 2010. "Calculating profit: A historical perspective on the development of capitalism," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 205-221, February.
    5. Ahmed S. Abou-Zaid & Tesa Leonce, 2014. "Religious Pluralism, yet a Homogenous Stance on Interest Rate: The Case of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 8(2), June.
    6. Malcolm Anderson, 1999. "Accounting History Publications 1998," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 375-384.
    7. Lech Kurklinski, 2015. "Kulturowo-religijny stosunek do bankowosci a wielkie religie swiata/Cultural and Religious Attitudes to Banking versus the Great World Religions," Annales. Ethics in Economic Life, University of Lodz, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, vol. 18(3), pages 45-58, May.
    8. R. J. Lister, 2006. "The composition of interest: The judaic prohibition," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 121-127.
    9. Arvind Ashta & Laurence Attuel-Mendès & Zaka Ratsimalahelo, 2015. "Another “French paradox”: explaining why interest rates to microenterprises did not increase with the change in French usury legislation," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 479-509, December.

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