The Sin of Avarice

1. Tawney believes that the difference between modern economic thought and the medieval view on such matters is that one (the medieval viewpoint) recognized an objective moral order/law within which matters of economics were to be judged and the other (the modern viewpoint) saw ‘economic expediency’ itself as the rule by which to judge these matters.
2. The ‘just price’ of a thing should not only be correlated with the factors involved in its production, but should also be such that all different classes of individuals are thereby enabled to obtain the things necessary for their sustainment. This concept is supposed to protect men against various forms of extortion by those who would overcharge for the products of their labor.
3. Usury was viewed as such an evil in practice because it is the ‘fixed and certain’ taking of money for which one has given nothing in return. Hence, it goes against the laws of justice, and also against the natural order of things whereby man is supposed to earn his living by his labor. But one of the biggest reasons for the condemnation of usury was its lack of accordance with Gospel values. As the law of charity and concern for neighbor is put aside in the order of loans, a danger enters in whereby not only can the borrower be exploited, but the usurious lender risks losing his soul, making him the worst one off in the whole situation. Hence, it seems that Dante put the usurers in this circle to show the intrinsically evil nature of usury and the consequences which it shares with other such forms of sinfulness.