this post was submitted on 15 May 2024
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This sounds good in theory, but is relatively bad in practice. Without interest, no one will loan the government money. Municipalities would need to rely on huge tax increases to fund large projects, instead of bonds funded by small tax increases over time.
No one will loan money to businesses either, and you are not getting any money to buy a house. It would favor those who already own established businesses, as they can just use profits from one to invest in another one.
I don’t think anyone is saying this is sound economic theory, just that Christianity has a lot of kooky shit that modern Christians are ignorant of and are contradictory to the theocracy they envision.
I think the idea is that you give loans to the needy, and do so out of generosity, hoping to get your money back but not relying on it. It's one of those things where the law does not work without the spirit.
That would mean rich donors end up "lending" money to the government for "no interest". I'm sure in return they would receive zero favors or benefits of any kind.
Like a lot of things in the Bible, it may work for goat herders lost in the Bronze Age desert. But it definitely doesn't literally work today. It didn't even work under the Romans during Jesus's time.
He was like "not a word shall be changed", but also don't worry about tiny details. Regarding keeping Kosher He said, "it's not what goes into your mouth that defiles you, but what comes out." The point is to keep yourself clean, not details about shellfish.
That can happen under just about any system.
Yes, but you don't want to make it a primary source for government funding.
Right, that's what taxes are for.
Exactly, and no it can't "just happen under any system". Right now the US government is giving out 5.1% interest on risk free Treasury Bills. There's literally no way to bribe the Treasury with free money because everyone and their dog is rushing to lend the government money at those rates.
You realise that the government can (and does) just make new money? There is no need for the government to borrow any money (but it does it anyways for other more complex reasons). And if done in moderation the resulting inflation is in effect identical to taxes, except that it automatically "taxes" the rich more and incurages further investments.
And with sufficient inflation, businesses will have no problem to attract investments as people will want to have investments that retain their value, no interest needed.
Similarly, investing money in houses is sound business when inflation is relatively high, both individually and for housing companies.
But the real problem is anyways not basic interest, but compound interest that forces the borrower to repay the lend amount many times over and still be in debt afterwards.