Is it immoral to charge interest?

Interest-bearing loans are commonplace in today’s economy, but are a subject of great contention in many of the world’s great intellectual and religious traditions. The Mosaic Law dictates: “If you lend money to any of my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender to him; do not charge him interest” (Exodus 22:25). Continue Reading...

Alabama Church Pays Off Payday Loans

About twenty years ago I made some terrible choices and found myself in a serious financial bind. The amount I needed wasn’t much — about $200 — but without it I wouldn’t have been able to pay my rent. Continue Reading...

Jean Marie’s Abundant Harvest

“For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.” -Isaiah 61:11 Jean Marie owns a restaurant and farm in southern Rwanda. Continue Reading...

Predatory … borrowers?

Yesterday I blogged about the unintended consequences of the federal government’s mandate that Stafford student loan interest rates would not double as scheduled on July 1. Organizations such as the Jubilee USA Network praised the government’s action as an act of Christian charity towards students who were oppressed and taken advantage of by unscrupulous lenders. Continue Reading...

Circus Bailouts vs. Market Correction

In college I wrote a paper for a Latin American Politics class titled, Barnum & Bailey Circus bailouts. The paper took the position that another financial bailout of Mexico would be a huge mistake and would not be money well spent. Continue Reading...

Micro-Finance: A Way Out of Poverty

In awarding the Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, the Nobel Committee has focused the world’s attention on the power of “bottom up” economic development. Jennifer Roback Morse reminds us that “the micro-credit movement has helped many of the poor become less poor, and to lift themselves, their families, and their neighbors out of abject poverty.” Continue Reading...