Misfortune Telling

Talk of a second economic stimulus package has left me wondering if we’ll ever find a way out of this crisis: have we ratcheted up our debt to a point of no return? I’ve been reluctant to buy into the “rapacious rich crushing the downtrodden poor” argument as the cause of this crisis, but when you take a closer look at how the whole thing started, there is pure greed at the core of it.

When the mortgage companies began giving loans to lower-income home buyers, it was in response to an initiative begun way back with Jimmy Carter and continuing with Bill Clinton. So it wasn’t extending the loans in the first place that created the problem; it was Wall Street leveraging the loans to raise capital. The leveraged value far outpaced any real value in the properties, the housing market fell, foreclosures ensued, and the rest is history.

The intent of the deregulation introduced by Carter and Clinton was to encourage companies to give back to the poor. Lenders and mortgage companies, though, used it for their own purposes, distorting the original spirit of the law.

In Judaism, it's forbidden to charge interest on loans or to profit from someone else's misfortune. Both Leviticus and Deuteronomy offer clear mandates on this: “If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him…Do not take interest of any kind from him…You must not lend him money at interest or sell him food at a profit.” (Lev 25.35-38)

For Christians, the ban on usury goes as far back as the third century, when it was grounds for excommunication from the Catholic church.

Islam also forbids Muslims riba—exploitative interest charged by a lender to a borrower: “If the debtor is in a difficulty, grant him time till it is easy for him to repay,” (Sura 2.280) and constitutes hoarding of wealth by the rich. Forgiving a loan is especially worthy.

Hoarding wealth is an abuse of the gifts given by God to all of creation. Perhaps it’s time to seek ethical guidance from world religions--and quit amassing fortunes built on the misfortunes of those in need.