The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy (Studies in Ethics and Economics) by Thomas E. Woods Jr

Author:Thomas E. Woods Jr. [Woods, Thomas E. Jr.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780739188019
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2015-01-15T05:00:00+00:00

The development of the teaching on usury has been so dramatic over the centuries that it inevitably prompts the question: has the Magisterium taught error anywhere along the line? The Catholic Encyclopedia says no, claiming that changing economic circumstances rather than changing teaching account for the new attitude toward the charging of interest. Thus in the article on interest, the Encyclopedia explains the situation as follows:

What is the reason for this change in the attitude of the Church towards the exaction of interest? . . . [T]his difference is due to economical circumstances. The price of goods is regulated by common valuation, and the latter by the utility that their possession ordinarily brings in a given center. Now, today, otherwise than formerly, one can commonly employ one’s money fruitfully, at least by putting it into a syndicate. Hence, today, the mere possession of money means a certain value. Whoever hands over this possession can claim in return this value. Thus it is that one acts in demanding an interest.93

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