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Beggar thy neighbor : a history of usury and debt / Charles R. Geisst.

by Geisst, Charles R.

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Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2013.

Usury -- History.

Usury -- Religious aspects -- History.

Usury laws -- History.

Debt -- History.

9780812244625 (hardcover : alk. paper) :

0812244621 (hardcover : alk. paper)

vi, 388 p. ; 24 cm.

Saints and sinners -- Embracing Sherlock -- Protestants, war, and capitalism -- The great experiment -- The new debt revolution -- Something old, something new -- Islam, interest, and microlending -- The consumer debt revolution -- Early interest rate tables and calculations.

In Beggar Thy Neighbor, financial historian Charles R. Geisst tracks the changing perceptions of usury and debt from the time of Cicero to the most recent financial crises. This comprehensive economic history looks at humanity's attempts to curb the abuse of debt while reaping the benefits of credit. Beggar Thy Neighbor examines the major debt revolutions of the past, demonstrating that extensive leverage and debt were behind most financial market crashes from the Renaissance to the present day. Geisst argues that usury prohibitions, as part of the natural law tradition in Western and Islamic societies, continue to play a key role in banking regulation despite modern advances in finance. From the Roman Empire to the recent Dodd-Frank financial reforms, usury ceilings still occupy a central place in notions of free markets and economic justice.

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