Monday, December 08, 2008

Finance 101


Saudi Arabia’s top cleric has used his annual sermon to Muslim pilgrims assembling for hajj to urge Muslim countries to renounce capitalism and form an Islamic economic bloc that adopts interest-free finance. / Middle East / Politics & Society - Saudi cleric cites crisis to press for sharia

Is capitalism and interest based finance the root of the current financial crisis? Is "Islamic finance" the solution? Maybe the cleric should have clarified the meaning of Islamic finance and how it works. There is a saying by Mao the Chinese leader that it does not matter if the cat is white or black as long as it catches mice. If Islamic finance catches mice all the better. I suspect it is easier said than done.


Anonymous said...

If we did change to an Islamic financial system, it would be one of the few things not copied off the West.

So despite it's efficiency or lack of it, I applaud it and would support the decision.

It's about time we became unique and not bad copies of the West.

TheRex said...

Being a copy of the west isn't such a bad thing, we use their gadgets we wear their clothes we even go vacationing in their countries, but as soon as we set foot in our respective countries we become anti-western? Let us become a replica of the west, mind you their not the ones starting wars and killing people now are they?
Now an Islamic financial system would be nothing short of madness, we've seen Islamic clerics screw up enough things in their time, to realize that trusting them with our money is a very bad idea, their idea of financial stability is basically what people in the west call socialism, it’s a communist idea, spread the wealth and so on, healthy competition, privatization and deregulation, that’s what our country needs, not an Islamic financial system. We're already driving away so many foreign investors who are attracted to our tax free system, yet driven away by the bureaucracy and red tape laid down by our hypocritical government, if that cleric had a substantial amount of knowledge on how the financial systems of the world work I would take a few minutes to see his proposal before I completely rule it out.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a way to add liquidity to the system... interest free finance.