Georgie Anne Geyer (Universal Press) said:
> Painfully little of this complex but creative -- and comfortably
> quantifiable -- process is present today in the Arab and Islamic
> world (whose banks spurn interest, for example). Only 4 percent of the
> investment moneys of the world go into the Middle East, including Israel.
> No wonder, then, that teams of violent youth haunt the mountains of
> Afghanistan and the streets of Cairo and Djakarta.
If accurate, this is significant! If Islam really prohibits banks
(or individuals) from charging interest then I have a big question
whether a successful capitalist economy could ever develop. Even
if you had "title" to your home, banks could not loan you money
to develop a business because they do not make anything on the loan.
One would have to develop a totally different model of development
where one avoided the concept of "interest". The only things that
I can think of would be something like a credit union or a co-op
where everyone participating would pay in a certain monthly amount
and have access to a certain amount of capital.
Robert
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