The Socially Optimized Social Discount Rate Is as Close as Possible

Tarek El Diwany’s book “The Problem with Interest” has attracted attention from scholars of Islamic finance and bitcoiners alike, including Allen Farrington, whose newly published book, Bitcoin Is Venice, draws heavily on Tarek's work. In this episode, Saifedean hosts Tarek and Allen to talk about the morality of lending with interest, why the practice is prohibited in Islam, and how an economy would function without interest rates. They discuss how monetary systems that require the creation of ever more debt impact human time preference, capital accumulation and morality, and whether interest would emerge in a free market monetary system like bitcoin?

Resources

• Tarek’s book The Problem with Interest
• Kreatoc Zest’s website.
• Saifedean’s podcast episodes on Islamic finance with Safdar Alam and Harris Irfan. 
• Article on William Cobbett’s opposition to suspension of the gold standard during the Napoleonic Wars.
• Selected Writings on Economics by Nassau Senior.
• See Plato’s Laws, Book 5 and Aristotle’s Politics, Book I, 10, no. 5 for Ancient Greek views on usury.
• A History of Interest Rates by Sidney Homer and Richard Sylla.
• Allen Farrington’s book Bitcoin is Venice on Amazon.
• Saifedean’s podcast episode Allen Farrington’s adventures with Fiat Intellectuals.
• Saifedean’s podcast episode Bitcoin Strategy with Michael Saylor.
• Saifedean’s first book, The Bitcoin Standard
• Saifedean’s second book, The Fiat Standard

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