Conflicts of interest? The ethics of usury

Journal of Business Ethics

Volumn 22, Issue 4, 1999, Pages 327-339

  Lewison, Martin ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH   (United States)

Author keywords

Christian business ethics; Free loans; Islamic business ethics; Jewish business ethics; Microlending; Microloans; Pawnbroking; Usury

Indexed keywords

EID: 0033473087     PISSN: 01674544     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1023/A:1006164904326     Document Type: Article

References (88)

1. Ahmad, I.: 1986, 'Islamic Social Thought', in W. Block and I. Hexham (eds.), Religion, Economics, and Social Thought: Proceedings of an International Symposium (The Fraser Institute, Vancouver, BC), pp. 465-491.
2. Auster, B. B.: 1997, 'The Pawn of a New Era Is Upon Us: Chains Transform the Business with New Markets, New Customers, and a New Image', U.S. News & World Report 123(22) (Dec. 8), 64.
3. Baron, S.: 1971, S.v. 'Calvin, John', in Encyclopedia Judaica (Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem), pp. 66-67.
4. Baumann, P.: 1990, 'The Deadliest Sin: Warnings Against Avarice and Usury on Romanesque Capitals in Auvergne', Church History 59, 7-18.
5. Bava Metzia. Babylonian Talmud.
6. Bindman, Rabbi Y.: 1993, If You Lend to My People: Gemachs (Free Loan Funds) and Their Operation (Feldheim, Jerusalem).
7. Birmingham, S.: 1967, Our Crowd: The Greatest Jewish Families of New York (Harper and Row, New York).
8. Block, W.: 1986, 'Comment', in W. Block and I. Hexham (eds.), Religion Economics, and Social Thought: Proceedings of an International Symposium (The Fraser Institute, Vancouver, BC), pp. 430-445.
9. Boyes, W. J.: 1982, 'In Defense of the Downtrodden: Usury Laws?', Public Choice 39, 269-276.
10. Branch, Shelly: 1998, 'Wayne's New World: Another Trashy Business', Fortune 137(2) (February 2), 29.
11. Brown, C.: 1991, 'Pawnbrokers to the Stars', Forbes 148 (July 8), 104-105.
12. Caskey, J. P.: 1996. Fringe Banking: Check-Cashing Outlets, Pawnshops and the Poor (Russell Sage Foundation, New York).
13. Caskey, J. P.: 1991, 'Pawnbroking in America: The Economics of a Forgotten Credit Market , Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking 23, 85-99.
14. Chafetz Chaim (Rabbi Israel Meir HaKohen): 1976, Ahavah Chesed: The Love of Kindness as Required by God (2nd ed.). Trans. Leonard Oschry (Feldheim, New York, 118881).
15. Cohn, H. H.: 1971, S.v. 'Usury', in Encyclopedia Judaica (Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem), pp. 17-33.
16. Coulton, A.: 1997, 'MasterCard to Educate Members on Microloans in Global Anti-Poverty Effort (Low-income Families)', American Hanker 162(23) (Feb. 4), 14.
17. de Roover, R.: 1967, 'The Scholastics, Usury, and Foreign Exchange', Business History Review 43, 257-271.
18. Divine, T. F.: 1967, S.v. 'Usury', in New Catholic Encyclopedia (McGraw-Hill, New York), pp. 498-500.
19. Ekins, P.: 1992, The Gaia Atlas of Green Economics (Anchor Books, New York).
20. Fogarty, N. J.: 1994, 'The Rent-to-Own Scam: Unfair Competition for Merchants', Credit World (March/April), 18-19.
21. "For Sale: Thorn's U.S. Stores: London-Based Owner of Thorn Americas May Be a Takeover Target": 1998, Wichita Eagle (April 8)
22. Galassi, F .L.: 1992, 'Buying a Passport to Heaven: Usury, Restitution, and the Merchants of Medieval Genoa', Religion 22, 313-326.
23. "GAO takes a look at the Credit Card Industry": 1994, CPA Journal 64(8) (August), 9.
24. Glaeser, E. L. and J. Scheinkman: 1998, 'Neither a Borrower Nor a Lender Be: An Economic Analysis of Interest Restrictions and Usury Laws', Journal of Law and Economics 41(1) (April), 1-36.
25. Gordon, B.: 1982, 'Lending at Interest: Some Jewish, Greek, and Christian Approaches, 800 BCAD 100', History of Political Economy 14, 406-426.
26. haLevi, Rabbi P.: 1992, Sefer haHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education, Vols. 2-5 (5 vols.). Trans. C. Wengrove (Feldheim, New York) [1523].
27. Halls, M.: 1994, 'Where East Meets West: Islamic Finance Techniques', Euromoney Treasury Manager (Dec.), 6.
28. Hodges, S.: 1997, 'SBA Microloans Fuel Big Ideas', Nation's Business 85(2) (Feb.), 34-35.
29. Homer, S. and R. Sylla: 1991, A History of Interest Rates (3rd ed.) (Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick).
30. Hudson, M.: 1997, 'The New Loan Sharks', Dollars and Sense 212 (July-August), 14-17.
31. Hudson, M: 1996, Merchants of Misery: How Corpo-Rate America Profits from Poverty (Common Courage Press, Monroe, ME).
32. Hudson, M: 1996, 'Cashing in on Poverty: How Big Business Wins Every Time', The Nation 262(20) (May 20), 11-14.
33. Hudson, M.: 1993, 'Renter Beware', The Washington Monthly 25(10), 12-15.
34. Hudson, M.: 1993a, 'How the Poor Pay More: Big Premiums on Big Ticket Items', Business and Society Review 85, 43-46.
35. "Islam's interest": 1992, The Economist 322 (7742) (January 18), 33-34.
36. Jewish Publication Society: 1985, Tanakh: A New Translation of the Holy Scriptures According to the Traditional Hebrew Text (Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, PA).
37. Jones, L. E. and E. Wattenberg: 1991, 'Working, Still Poor: A Loan Program's Role in the Lives of Low-Income Single Parents', Social Work 36, 146-153.
38. "Judgement against Rent-A-Center": 1997. Television Digest 37(38) (Sept. 22), 16.
39. Kellengbenz, H.: 1971, S.v. 'Baking and Bankers', in Encyclopedia Judaica (Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem), pp. 166-179.
40. Kossek, E. E., M. Huber-Yoder, D. Castellion, and J. Lerner: 1997, 'The Working Poor: Locked out of Careers and the Organizational Mainstream?', Academy of Management Executive 11, 76-92.
41. Lamb, M. L.: 1992, 'Theology and Money: Rationality, Religion, and Economics', American Behavioral Scientist 35, 735-755.
42. Lambert, Wade: 1995, 'Thorn Must Void Rental Contracts, a Judge Decides', Wall Street Journal (Oct. 2).
43. Levine, A.: 1987, Economics and Jewish Law (Yeshiva University Press, New York).
44. Levine, A.: 1989, Free Enterprise and Jewish Law: Aspects of Jewish Business Ethics (Yeshiva University Press, New York).
45. Light, I.: 1977, 'Numbers Gambling Among Blacks: A Financial Institution', American Sociological Review 42, 892-904.
46. Lister, R. J.: 1988, 'Interest, Morality, Orthodoxy, Gambling and Karim', Journal of Business Finance and Accounting 15, 585-596.
47. Liu, P., S. D. Smith and J. D. Tripp: 1990, 'The Estimated Effect of Current and Proposed Usury Ceilings on Commercial Loans in Arkansas', Arkansas Business and Economic Review 23(1) (Spring), 18-22.
48. Long, D. S.: 1996, 'Bernard Dempsey's Theological Economics: Usury, Profit, and Human Fulfillment', Theological Studies 57(4) (Dec.), 690-706.
49. Magill, G.: 1992, 'Theology in Business Ethics: Appealing to the Religious Imagination', Journal of Business Ethics 11, 129-135.
50. Maimonides, Moses.: 1949, Mishneh Torah: The Book of Civil Laws. Trans. J. J. Rabinowitz (Yale University Press, New Haven) [1180].
51. Martin, C. G., K. E. Galchus and A. P. Vibhakar: 1990, 'Arkansas Usury Law: Synthesis or Stalemate?', Arkansas Business and Economic Review 23, 1-17.
52. Miller, J. H.: 1994, Curing World Poverty: The New Role of Property (Central Bureau, Catholic Central Union of America, St. Louis).
53. Mitnick, B. and M. Lewison: 1996, 'Fences Outside Fences: The Uses of Heroic Marginality in Ethical Behavior', Expanded Proceedings of the 1996 annual Meetings of the Academy of Management, August 9-14, Cincinnati, OH.
54. Murray, Brendan: 1998, 'Payday Lenders' Face Regulation', Atlanta Business Chronicle 20(34) (January 23), 1A-2A.
55. Nelson, B.: 1969, The Idea of Usury: From Tribal Brotherhood to Universal Otherhood (2nd ed.) (University of Chicago Press, Chicago).
56. Noponen, H.: 1992, 'Loans to the Working Poor: A Longitudinal Study of Credit, Gender and the Household Economy', International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 16, 235-251.
57. Pal, Izzud-Din: 1994, 'Pakistan and the Question of Riba', Middle Eastern Studies 30(1) (Jan.), 64-78.
58. Pava, M. L.: 1998, 'The Substance of Jewish Business Ethics', Journal of Business Ethics 17(6) (Apr.), 603-617.
59. Pope, Hugh: 1997, 'Islam in the Mainstream: In Turkey, Islamist Businessmen Take on Establishment - Secular Elite Greet Muslim Firms' Success with Suspicion - and Blacklists', Wall Street Journal (Aug. 20), A 10.
60. "Poverty, Inc.": 1998, Consumer Reports 63(7) (July), 28-33.
61. Quereshi, A. I.: 1946, Islam and the Theory of Interest (Muhammad Ashraf, Lahore, Pakistan).
62. Rabinovich, L.: 1993, 'Introduction to Secured Transactions in Halakha and Common Law', Tradition 27, 36-50.
63. Rangaswami, K.: 1927, Aspects of Ancient Indian Economic Thought (Madras Law Journal Press, Mylapore).
64. Rossouw, G. J.: 1994, 'Business Ethics: Where Have All the Christians Gone?', Journal of Business Ethics 13, 557-570.
65. Rowe, Jr. F. E.: 1993, 'Cash Customers', Forbes 151(10) (May 10), 196.
66. Schwartz, J.: 1989, 'Swap Shop', American Demographics 11(11) (November), 60.
67. Shatzmiller, J.: 1990, Shylock Reconsidered: Jews, Moneylending, and Medieval Society (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA).
68. Shibili, M. A.: 1993, 'Usufructary Mortgages in Rural South Asian Economies: Collateral Valuation and Internal Rates', American Journal of Economics and Sociology 52, 167-181.
69. Shilo, S.: 1971, S.v. 'Loan', in Encyclopedia Judaica (Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem), pp. 414-420.
70. Spot the difference: 1989, Euromoney (Pakistan Supplement) (September), 19-21.
71. Stein, S.: 1971, S.v. 'Moneylending', in Encyclopedia Judaica (Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem), pp. 244-253.
72. Stern, Rabbi J.: 1984, 'Ribis: A Halachic Anthology', in A. S. Cohen (ed.), Halacha and Contemporary Society (KTAV Publishing House, New York), pp. 167-190.
73. Syedain, H.: 1991, 'The Redemption of the Pawnbroker', Management Today (January), 44-46.
74. Syedain, H.: 1989, 'Counting on the Quran', Management Today (March), 104-108.
75. Tamari, M.: 1990, 'Ethical Issues in Bankruptcy: A Jewish Perspective', Journal of Business Ethics 9, 785-789.
76. Tamari, M.: 1987, 'With All Your Possessions', Jewish Ethics and Economic Life (Free Press, New York).
77. Tamari, M.: 1986, 'Judaism and the Market Mechanism', in W. Block and I. Hexham (eds.), Religion, Economics and Social Thought: Proceedings of An International Symposium (The Fraser Institute, Vancouver, BC), pp. 393-421.
78. Taylor, T. W. and J. W. Evans: 1987, 'Islamic Banking and the Prohibition of Usury in Western Economic Thought', National Westminster Bank Quarterly Review (November), 15-27.
79. Tebbutt. M.: 1983, Making Ends Meet: Pawnbroking and Working-Class Credit (St. Martin's Press, New York).
80. Tenenbaum, S.: 1993, A Credit to Their Community: Jewish Loan Societies in the United States 1880-1945 (Wayne State University Press, Detroit).
81. Van Buren III, H. J. and B. R. Agle: 1997, 'Isolating Religious Beliefs that Might Affect Managerial Decision Making: An Initial Analysis', Paper presented at the 1997 Meeting of the International Association of Business and Society (March 6-9) (Destin, FL).
82. "Victim calls it 'Rent-A-Sucker'": 1996, Philadephia Daily News (May 21).
83. Villegas, D. J.: 1989, 'The Impact of Usury Ceilings on Consumer Credit', Southern Economic Journal 56(1) (July), 126-141.
84. Vogel, D.: 1991, 'The Ethical Roots of Business Ethics', Business Ethics Quarterly 1, 101-120.
85. Wagschal, Rabbi S.: 1990, Torah Guide for the Businessman (Feldheim, New York).
86. Werner, T.: 1996, 'Microloans Provide Major Help for Struggling Small Businesses', Philadelphia Business Journal 15(11) (May 10), 8.
87. Woolley, S.: 1993, 'Neither Fish Nor Fowl - But Some Call It Foul', Business Week 3302 (January 25), 75, 78.
88. Zipser, A.: 1993, 'It Pays to Be in Hock', Barrons 73 (April 19), 40-41.