on Islamic finance
The Economist’s Briefing this week is on Islamic finance. I’ll confess to being less than expert on economics and just link.
Click here for the briefing on current successes and struggles in the field; click here for the summary of Islamic finance’s history.
Those interested in reading further on Islamic finance can check out Forbes.com’s online resource center thereon, and the Saudi ArabNews’ report on the GCC’s movements to take on a bigger role in the Islamic finance sector.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:30 am
[…] Lahem al Nasser, a frequent commentator on Islamic finance, has an opinion piece in Al Sharq al Awsat (English) contending that, had the West followed Islamic banking restrictions, the current banking crisis would not have been. The Economist’s briefing of several weeks ago asserted something similar. The two perspectives diverge on the relative merits of Islamic finance’s relatively cautious structure: since ‘gambling’ and ‘usury’ are forbidden in Islam, in varying degrees depending on who you ask, selling something you don’t actually own (e.g. mortgage-backed securities), would not take place. Of course, this necessitates a minimum of risk, perhaps minimizing profits. […]