The Concept of Interest and Interest from the Historical Perspective

Abstract

It is possible to talk about economic activities since the first period when human beings started to take place on the stage of history. It is known that there are interest and interest rate loans in different periods of humanity along with economic activities. Interest is not only a matter of discussion in the philosophical and economic framework, but also an important issue that divine religions focus on. From past to present, interest has been one of the most discussed topics in economics in terms of both its technical and normative aspects, its individual, social and global dimensions. In different periods, prohibitions on interest or regulations/restrictions on interest took place in the economic structure. The prohibition on interest is generally based on religious, social and philosophical foundations in the historical process. In every period of history, we observe that restrictions and prohibitions have been imposed on the idea and practice of interest on the basis of both philosophical and religious references, and such discussions continue today. The aim of the study is to evaluate the development of the concept of interest in the historical process, in ancient civilizations, in monotheistic religions, from the Middle Ages to today's mainstream economics literature.