So I'm wishing I'd paid more attention in my 1.5 semesters of macroeconomics--because that's where all the action is right now. It sure would be an interesting time to work at the Fed. For the nerds and/or procrastinators out there (which pretty much encompasses all of you), All Things Considered had a great segment this afternoon on the basics of the Bear Stearns collapse.
And on the microeconomics front, Marketplace had a good segment on Islamic bonds today also. In a nutshell, Islamic law forbids earning interest when one loans money. So a whole industry has developed to work around this most inconvenient of laws. The issue has been at the forefront for me recently because I'm doing taxes at a building almost entirely populated by people who are Somali (almost all Muslim) or Oromo (many of whom are Muslim). Because the IRS says I have to, I dutifully ask each person if he or she earns interest from any sources--which usually elicits a look of horror. This week a guy actually looked scared when I asked, and then got all defensive and said his bank started giving him interest unbidden so he of course called immediately to cancel the account. Um, don't worry buddy, I'm not going to report you to the Islamic courts. But anyway, the bottom line is I feel like an ass every time I ask.
1 comment:
When I worked at US Bank, I had a Moroccan coworker who did not believe in loans because of the interest thing. His wife was also in banking. I thought their career choices were very strange, given that they didn't believe in the products they were selling.
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