Never a borrower nor a lender be remains good advice for individuals and nations

Christ ejecting money lenders

Shakespeare's advice, given via his play Hamlet through the character Polonius who offered it as his son Laertes was leaving to go to the University in Paris, remains cogent for individuals and nations much of the time, for it is too much borrowing and lending that offers crises from which many can't recover. There are, however, exceptions.



Scientists tell us loaning money to a friend is a bad idea. Why? For as we observe in Shakespeare's lines from Hamlet, the rest of the quotation about borrowing and lending says “For loan oft loses both itself and friend.”



What scientists tell us is there is “mental malfeasance” when it comes to remembering to repay or how much to repay and when. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Creditors have better memories than borrowers.” Research in 2012 verified Franklin's and Shakespeare's advice and admonitions.



Researchers that included psychologists George Loewenstein of Carnegie Mellon University and Linda Dezso of the University of Vienna asked 971 people to describe their experiences both as borrowers and lenders, then wrote up their study called “Lenders Blind Trust and Borrowers' Blind Spots: A Descriptive Investigation of Personal Loans” that was published in the Journal of Economic Psychology.



Trust agreements are difficult to maintain because people who are borrowers and those who are lenders seem to have differences in perspectives about the loan itself, who initiated the idea of it, the elements of repayment and what might happen if the loan is not repaid.



Lowenstein said this in an interview with ABC News, “Everyone suspects, and many people have their own personal experiences, that personal loans are a risky endeavor. People tend to process information about interpersonal interactions in a kind of self-serving fashion. We forget things that are inconvenient for us, and that's true of loans.”



For most of the history of Christianity, usury, or the practice of lending money with interest, was forbidden, based on scriptural admonitions from the following sources among others:

“Ex. 22:25 If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you,

you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them.”

“Deut. 23:19 You shall not charge interest on loans to another Israelite, interest on money, interest on provisions, interest on anything that is lent.”

“Psa. 15:1, 5  O LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? … (those) who do not lend money at interest, and do not take a bribe against the innocent.”

 “Luke 6:34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.”

Yet Christians have adopted the view that loaning money is not a negative or violation of scripture so long as the interest is not excessive. This ability to develop and maintain a practice that can often be harmful not just to the lay community but to faith groups as well is part of the compromises people make in the modern world where eclecticism practices become part of religion. In other words people may ignore the scriptural prohibitions against borrowing and lending, yet maintain the sacraments and other practices. Some church leaders have underlined concerns about this, as the issues of loaning money often enter spiritual events and create problems. 

Usury in the modern world remains a problem, however, with what agencies like the Department of Justice underlines are predatory loan practices.  Like the money lenders that Jesus threw from the temple, they tend to prey on the poor.

Robin A. Brace of UK Apologetics responds differently to the issues of borrowing and lending among people of faith. Brace says that “generally speaking, it is wise to avoid borrowing and lending yet, in some circumstances, Christians would be eager to lend to a Christian brother or sister who needs a little help; in such case, no interest should be charged. That is good and fine. But we also should note that our modern western society functions in such a manner that, unless one is wealthy, borrowing or lending cannot always be avoided.”

The United States has been a borrower from China. Uniquely these nations are not friends, although they have reached a level of amicability in many areas, so that tourists freely travel throughout much of China, and Chinese tourists visit the United States. On the other hand the two nations have different financial institutions and governments that don't always agree on the nature of how things should be done. While China has been a good resource for loans, what might happen if that financial relationship becomes strained as a result of some political event? It is likely that both nations would look for ways to enhance positions, which means the potential of non payment of the loan by the United States and some financial retaliation by China that might reverberate badly through the American economy.

But there are two points of view on this subject. Rick Newman of U.S. News.com tells us that borrowing money from China in the manner the United States does is not necessarily a bad thing. For example, investors buy bad debt all over the world. China does this as a financial ploy to earn money in the way other investors do. Newman goes on to say that “buying U.S. Debt gives the Chinese no control over the U.S. Economy. In fact, strong emand for U.S. Debt by Chinese holders pushes long-term interest rates in the United States lower, because more buyers means the price—the interest rate paid by the borrower—goes down. That, in turn, pushes down rates on mortgages and other types of consumer loans, which are closely linked to the rates paid on U.S. Treasuries.”

International transactions and personal ones where borrowing and lending take place offer challenges. On the other hand, the risks and compromises are said to be part of the modern world's way of making money work. Yet despite these risks and compromises most people agree that borrowing and lending in close relationships is fraught with difficulty, even though sometimes it may appear to be economically just, and that the old advice of “Never a borrower nor lender be” is good advice for most situations.