What is usury? Why is it evil?

https://considerandhearme.wordpress.com ^ | 02/01/2011 | considerandhearme

[mbeaven]

From a moral stand-point, money lent for things like entertainment and personal consumption are considered usury. Money lent for economic gain is not. For example, you discover you have oil under your land and need to borrow $50,000 to extract $5,000,000 worth of oil — the loan is not considered usurious so long as the lender shares in the profit or loss of the venture. Lending money to someone so they can watch a movie, go out to eat, buy a house to live in, a car to drive, or Christmas presents for their grandkids — all that is usury.

[econjack]

This is about as simplistic as the drawings used to illustrate it. If the purpose is to say credit should be used wisely, fine. If the intent is to say that capital markets are unnecessary or evil, the premise is simply stupid.

[Rippin]

Just read about the sabbath and jubilee prescriptions in Leviticus. The lack of setting the slate clean once in a while will bite us. God owns everything. How should that be reflected in commerce? Just asking.

[shiva]

God owns everything. How should that be reflected in commerce?

They don't believe in God. There is no God for many, many people. They just want to do what is right 'in their own eyes'.

[vladimir998]

Shouldn’t you be selling insurance?

[Rippin]

Right. But I find it interesting that this single biggest macro-economic challenge that the secular world faces is the problem of the ‘business cycle’ booms and busts that they can’t quite control. The Left has used the major downturns to destroy freedom.

[backwoods-engineer]

Lending money to someone so they can ... buy a house to live in, a car to drive

Bull.

On the contrary, as long as the interest rate is not too high, these loans are a needed service. You may be able to buy a home without a loan, but I can't.

There are bigger fish to fry than this. It is just a distraction.

[MortMan]

Usury is between sometimes and always.

[enraged]

Wht isn’t a 30 year fixed mortage deemed usuary? I thought legally, anything over 25% interest is deemed usuary? Granted the loan may be written for say 6%, but 85%+ goes towards interest over the first many many years.

[gusty]

With this type of thinking, I would still be working the land of some feudal lord in Europe.

[FranklinsTower]

This analysis is seriously flawed. It does not take into account other goods and services that can be traded of like value instead of money. It also does not take into account the velocity of money changing hands many times over time.

In sum, it is a very badly flawed and way over simplified analysis.

[Arthur McGowan]

The very first distinction made in this article is nonsensical and gratuitous. Why is the oil somehow more “worthy” than the flat-screen TV or the Christmas presents? Because the author says so.

As Chesteron said, every crank has a theory about money, and a theory about the Jooooooooz.

[Alex Murphy]

From a moral stand-point, money lent for things like entertainment and personal consumption are considered usury. Money lent for economic gain is not.

Ping for later

[ReverendJames]

When the interest rate is so high that just servicing the loan will never pay it off. A friend was paying on his credit card with just the required payment. At the end of the year he owed more than when he started at the beginning of the year.

[who knows what evil?]

Paying the ‘minimum’ will keep you in chains for years and years...

[svcw]

So my grandson says “hey grandma, can you loan me $20 till payday”, is usury because he goes to a movie but if he wanted to drill for oil it would be OK?
It has been my experience that people who write these sort of articles (now blogs) do so because they have not been able to control their own finances and borrowing has gotten out of control for them. In order to make themselves feel better they start harping on “usury” and/or interest and paying for everything in cash, having no concept of balance in their lives.

[ReverendJames]

BofA’s credit card interest rate is something like 99% over the life of the balance (if you just pay the minimum monthly). I read it in the fine print on a bill once. Scared the life out of me. I pay that thing off every month.

[mbeaven]

It is only usury if you charge interest for the loan.

[mbeaven]

I actually took my arguments from Chesterton. Nice try.

[redgolum]

For later.