Credit has been widely perceived as a social evil throughout recorded history.
That's why Christians could not lend money at interest, and Muslims still can't. That's why Jews got a bad reputation.
Even Jews had special laws for lending money at interest to fellow Jews.
"Caveat emptor" isn't really the way we do things. We've always had laws against, say, adulterating foods, or scalping tickets, or cornering the market and price-gouging during disasters. We've got the FDA, the FTC, the SEC, HUD, Fannie Mae, Sallie Mae, and a host of other agencies that exist, in large part, to keep the foolish from being sheared by the wicked.
If your principles are pure, do you want to get rid of the SEC or the FDA? |
