What is the true cost of capital? A critical look at usury, interest, and the modern economy.
This book probes how the use of money has long shaped law, morality, and wealth. It traces the line from ancient debt-slavery to contemporary concerns about profits earned from lending, asking whether excess returns on capital distort justice and economic health.
Two sections explore how laws and ideas have treated lending over centuries, and how luxury and industrial practices interact with pay and productivity today. With historical examples and economic argument, the work challenges readers to reconsider the boundaries between fair compensation and exploitative gain.
- Learn how usury and interest have been defined and contested through law, philosophy, and religion.
- See how debt slavery and legal fictions shaped early economics and modern finance.
- Understand how luxury, industry, and wages influence wealth distribution and social stability.
- Explore the link between capital profits, production, and the lived experience of workers.
Ideal for readers of economic history, ethical economics, and those curious about how money, power, and social welfare intersect in everyday life.