Margaret Atwood: Is Debt Necessary?

Looking through history, I think debt has been around since day one -- but our generation has turned it up a million notches.

I understand her confusion as a kid over the money she "earned" in her savings account -- I grew up around working-class people who earned their money by producings tangible items (farmers=food; carpenters=buildings; mill workers=steel).

To this day it seems bizarre to me to "make money" in stocks, because there is nothing produced. I still, in the back of my mind, believe the only real way to earn money is to have something tangible to show for it, like real estate.

Single mom of CO @ Oct 24, 2008 10:47:34 AM

Atwood's op-ed today

For those who are interested, Margaret Atwood wrote an op-ed in the New York Times today on the meaning of debt- to read it, copy this url into your browser:

http://tinyurl.com/5ddkec

Kimberly Palmer of @ Oct 22, 2008 12:36:51 PM

Islam & Interest

This is also a topic that has facinated me. I work in finance and accounting, and typically need to review loan documents. The aspect of Islam that governs interest and lending is referred to as Murabaha. I don't claim to know alot about it, but have been reading some Murabaha loan agreements lately from a large Dubai private equity group. These things are definitely interesting, as they structure the loan in a way that there is no direct interest payment, but a number of fees that allow the transfer of funds back to the lender. The structure here is effectively the same as including an implied interest rate, but is never discussed as such. To my mind, this is similar to the tooth fairy example, where it is not counted as interest only because people say that it isn't interest.

Anybody with a better understanding of Islamic lending have a take on this?

Stuart of AR @ Oct 22, 2008 10:55:02 AM

It's necessary if imposed upon people

U.S. taxpayers and their children, their children's children and so on have been placed in debt by the spending by the Bush administration with the complicity of the congress.

Saddam Hussein's reign ended 5 years ago, yet the spending and bloodshed goes on and on as the reasons change from time to time as the last reason is proven false.

And then there's Afganistan/slash/Pakistan.

Is debt necessary? It's inevitable.

HillbillyBill of TN @ Oct 21, 2008 16:23:53 PM

Religions prohibiting interest

That's a great point, and this book made me wonder about that, too. Atwood delves into how Christianity thinks of debt (and how it is associated with sin), but, unless I missed it, she didn't get into the Islamic faith and prohibitions of interest there.

Perhaps a Muslim reader could enlighten us on this point and explain how the prohibition on interest works in real life? Is it more of a help or hindrance?

Kimberly Palmer of @ Oct 21, 2008 13:36:12 PM