Solving the credit crunch with a Jubilee Year?

A couple of times in the last month or so it's been suggested that we comment on a call for a worldwide Jubilee Year to resolve the current financial crisis.  The Jubilee Centre that seeks to address issues in society on the basis of wisdom from the Christian Bible (both Hebrew Scriptures and our own Christian 'new testament' writings) is interested. 

Jubilee Centre - Blog - Solving the credit crunch with a Jubilee Year?.

The Jubilee Year was a means by which debt was cancelled every 50 years and people got a fresh start.

The way our debt-based economic system is structured means that from time to time the amount of debt accrued by households, companies and governments exceeds the economy's ability to service the debt. Paul Mills points out that 'bankruptcies, inflation, default or debt:equity swaps (in corporate restructurings) are then needed to rebalance the two (usually in the context of a banking/financial crisis)'.

In contrast, the biblical economic model maintains this balance through reliance on rental and equity contracts ('I share in the risk and get a share of the profit' arrangements) coupled with the periodic and predictable debt cancellation.

To be clear, the provisions of Deuteronomy 15 and Leviticus 25 have debt forgiveness (amongst the people of Israel) every 7 years while the year of Jubilee every 50 years focuses on the return of land to the families that were allotted it on entering the promised land. No matter what economic hardships were got into, even becoming a bondservant, the Jubilee ensured that subsequent generations were not cut off from their roots through the loss of the family land in a particular generation. This safeguarded identity, rootedness and access to the land as means of production. In this sense, loans, selling (or more accurately leasing) land and bonded servitude were last resorts.

Thus the Jubilee is just part (albeit a key part) of the biblical economic model that Will Hutton said 'makes Das Kapital look tame'. Forgiveness of debt might seem a radical suggestion but the truth is we need an even more fundamental and biblical reorientation of our economic principles to avoid another 'credit crunch' in the future.

I find this fascinating as up until now it has been evident that the health of Muslim Banks based on a part of Sharia Banking Law have been healthier than so many of those that have been going under in recent months.

Of course this is seen as a threat by many. Melanie Philips wrote a scare piece in the Mail two weeks ago:  Britain's a world-leader in sharia banking - but we haven't grasped the sinister and dangerous implications
I do undestand what she is saying. But one has to ask the question, if they are prepared to live by the wisdom from above which tells us of "the good life" then maybe they will do well and be blessed. Its not as if "Christian England" hasn't got its own solution -  if it was prepared to pay the cost. Unfortunately I am not sure that is the sort of Christian England Melanie Philips and many others want.

On the subject Rowan Williams wrote again on Sharia Law a week or so ago: Archbishop of Canterbury: Society is coming round to my views on sharia  Not necessarily the best sound bite for his cause (though a great one for the press)  but good thoughts once agian.

And while we are talking of the "Good Book(s)"  the row last week about consigning the Bible along with the Quaran to the top shelf can thus be seen in a different light. Bible moved to library top shelf over inequality fears   The Christian Institutre don't like the idea but maybe there is another answer.

Maybe we need to give our Scriptures  a place of honour in libraries?  Maybe the top shelf should be a bit lower where they can be accessed?