Financial History Issue 112 (Winter 2015) | Page 19
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and charged only 5% a month for money.
They were, of course, much better thought
of, and the pioneers voted to let them
remain on sufferance.”
In other words, lending/borrowing was
acceptable in America only if rates were
not too high, a line that varied dramatically
over time and place depending on the level
of economic development (higher in less
developed areas) and financial development (lower in more developed systems)
and the type of monetary system (higher
under inflation-prone fiat regimes).
Regardless of the location of the “too
much” line, lenders willing to lend at usurious rates could always be found, although
not until recently in sufficient n