Currency boards and dollarisation form a potent weapon against inflation, but success is not guar... more Currency boards and dollarisation form a potent weapon against inflation, but success is not guaranteed and the monetary authorities severely limit their room of manoeuvre (which in some cases just what the adoption of a currency board is meant to achieve)
SummaryIn this article an amended vesion of the traditionalIS/LM-model for an open economy is dev... more SummaryIn this article an amended vesion of the traditionalIS/LM-model for an open economy is developed. TheLM-curve is replace by anFM-curve, which represents equilibrium between the demand for and supply of money and bonds. The banks passively satisfy the wishes of the public as to the composition of its portfolio of money and bonds, creating or destroying money in the process. It turns out that not much is left of the well-orderedIS/LM world.
In the aftermath of the debates between Keynesians and monetarists, this book provides a lucid, c... more In the aftermath of the debates between Keynesians and monetarists, this book provides a lucid, concise overview of the most recent developments in monetary theory. Professor Visser has written an up-to-date survey which discusses major issues such as crowding out, the new classical macroeconomics, the breakdown of the stable money demand function, buffer stocks and currency substitution.
This book explores the tensions between the religious and legal principles of Islamic finance and... more This book explores the tensions between the religious and legal principles of Islamic finance and Islamic banking in practice. It does not limit itself to a legal discussion and presents a truly interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue between lawyers, theologians, and economists with roots in academia and practice. There is considerable divergence in their evaluation of the status quo and future of Islamic finance. Contributions cover aspects of Islamic finance in theory and practice. It provides insights into the interplay of religion, ethics and finance covering both the Islamic and Christian traditions that sets the scene for Islamic finance in practice: economic technicalities of Islamic banking services, its regulatory aspects, and the complex legal arrangements of Islamic finance in non-Muslim-majority countries. Islamic Finance is a truly international collaboration of outstanding scholars and practitioners in their field that reveals the complexities involved in applying religious principles and legal theory to the daily practice of business and finance. With contributions by Martin Bünning and Aryanaz Rezaian, Mahmoud A. El-Gamal, Syed Imad-ud-Dis Asad, Amel Makhlouf, Mathias Rohe, Hans Visser and Rodney Wilson.
Currency boards and dollarisation form a potent weapon against inflation, but success is not guar... more Currency boards and dollarisation form a potent weapon against inflation, but success is not guaranteed and the monetary authorities severely limit their room of manoeuvre (which in some cases just what the adoption of a currency board is meant to achieve)
SummaryIn this article an amended vesion of the traditionalIS/LM-model for an open economy is dev... more SummaryIn this article an amended vesion of the traditionalIS/LM-model for an open economy is developed. TheLM-curve is replace by anFM-curve, which represents equilibrium between the demand for and supply of money and bonds. The banks passively satisfy the wishes of the public as to the composition of its portfolio of money and bonds, creating or destroying money in the process. It turns out that not much is left of the well-orderedIS/LM world.
In the aftermath of the debates between Keynesians and monetarists, this book provides a lucid, c... more In the aftermath of the debates between Keynesians and monetarists, this book provides a lucid, concise overview of the most recent developments in monetary theory. Professor Visser has written an up-to-date survey which discusses major issues such as crowding out, the new classical macroeconomics, the breakdown of the stable money demand function, buffer stocks and currency substitution.
This book explores the tensions between the religious and legal principles of Islamic finance and... more This book explores the tensions between the religious and legal principles of Islamic finance and Islamic banking in practice. It does not limit itself to a legal discussion and presents a truly interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue between lawyers, theologians, and economists with roots in academia and practice. There is considerable divergence in their evaluation of the status quo and future of Islamic finance. Contributions cover aspects of Islamic finance in theory and practice. It provides insights into the interplay of religion, ethics and finance covering both the Islamic and Christian traditions that sets the scene for Islamic finance in practice: economic technicalities of Islamic banking services, its regulatory aspects, and the complex legal arrangements of Islamic finance in non-Muslim-majority countries. Islamic Finance is a truly international collaboration of outstanding scholars and practitioners in their field that reveals the complexities involved in applying religious principles and legal theory to the daily practice of business and finance. With contributions by Martin Bünning and Aryanaz Rezaian, Mahmoud A. El-Gamal, Syed Imad-ud-Dis Asad, Amel Makhlouf, Mathias Rohe, Hans Visser and Rodney Wilson.
Islamic finance presents itself as based on the uniqueness of Islamic ethics, originating in divi... more Islamic finance presents itself as based on the uniqueness of Islamic ethics, originating in divine revelation (the Quran) and the actions and sayings of the Prophet (Sunna). It is argued, first, that there is nothing unique in this ethics and second, that on the contrary some parts of the Quran and the Sunna can in the 21st century only be found reprehensible. A radically different way of looking at the Quran and the Sunna is called for. A number of Muslim intellectuals has been leading the way. A brief review of their ideas is given.
Islamic banking is, like the conventional variant, fractional-reserve banking and creates money a... more Islamic banking is, like the conventional variant, fractional-reserve banking and creates money against debt. A number of Islamic scholars, think tanks and other organizations propose to replace this system with a full-blooded gold currency or a variant thereof. The paper highlights the aims of the promoters and their monetary thinking.
Islamic Finance: Between Religious Norms and Legal Practice, Wim Decock and Vincent Sagaert (eds), Intersentia, Cambridge UK , 2019
This is the Editors' Introduction, with the Table of Contents, to a collection of papers presente... more This is the Editors' Introduction, with the Table of Contents, to a collection of papers presented at at the Leuven Islamic Finance symposium on 7 December 2017, organized jointly by UMT School of Law and Policy in Lahore (Pakistan) and the Faculties of Law and Theology at KU Leuven (Belgium).
Muslims and Capitalism An Uneasy Relationship?, 2019
From today’s perspective, Islam and capitalism seem to be natural partners. In a world where stat... more From today’s perspective, Islam and capitalism seem to be natural partners. In a world where state socialism is on the wane, Islamic states in particular seem to be run by an exploitative class that in their hyper-capital-ist way of profit-making does not care at all about so-cial justice. Modern history, however, has seen a great number of movements, political parties and individu-als propagating the incompatibility of capitalism with Islam. And at a second glance, the quest for social jus-tice and the rejection of capitalism actually appear as a driving force in different Islamic discourses, includ-ing that of the so-called Islamic State. The articles of this volume offer intriguing and origi-nal thoughts about the appropriate economic system for a Muslim society. Some of the concepts are based right away on socialism, while others call for a genu-ine, non-Western Islamic ‘third way’ between com-munism and capitalism. In fact, political reality has forced the secular Left to grapple with the response of Islamic movements to poverty and injustice. The vol-ume therefore also includes useful insights into the Left’s reaction to this political challenge. The articles cover a wide range of world regions, not only the Middle East and Turkey, but also the Far East and North Africa, with a time span ranging from the late 19th century to the present. In addition, the reader is also introduced to economic concepts of early Islam and their textual sources.
This is Chapter 1 of the third edition of Islamic Finance: Principles and Practice, Cheltenham, U... more This is Chapter 1 of the third edition of Islamic Finance: Principles and Practice, Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar Publishing 2019. This chapter is about the motives for Muslims to advocate the use of financial instruments that obey specific Islamic requirements. The movement for an Islamic economy and an Islamic financial system in particular, started in the second half of the 19th century with a new Islamic awakening but took a different turn after the First World War. A new impetus was given with the rise in oil wealth in a number of predominantly Muslim countries after the 1973–74 oil crisis and the success of Malaysia as a fast grower; both of which may have contributed to a new self-confidence that made it possible for Muslim governments and firms to develop new financial instruments, often in close cooperation with Western firms and without the feelings of resentment harboured by reformers of the 1930s and 1940s. The history of the movement towards Islamic finance, and Islamic economics in general, is outlined and the chapter concludes by highlighting the diversity of views among Muslims on the desirability of the direction it has taken.
Islamic Finance Between Religious Norms and Legal Practice (ed. with V. Sagaert), Antwerp, Cambri... more Islamic Finance Between Religious Norms and Legal Practice (ed. with V. Sagaert), Antwerp, Cambridge, Chicago: Intersentia, 2019, viii + 137p.
This book explores the tensions between the religious and legal principles of Islamic finance and Islamic banking in practice. It does not limit itself to a legal discussion and presents an interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue between lawyers, theologians, and economists with roots in academia and practice. There is considerable divergence in their evaluation of the status quo and future of Islamic finance.
Contributions cover aspects of Islamic finance in theory and practice. It provides insights into the interplay of religion, ethics and finance covering both the Islamic and Christian traditions that sets the scene for Islamic finance in practice: economic technicalities of Islamic banking services, its regulatory aspects, and the complex legal arrangements of Islamic finance in non-Muslim-majority countries.
With contributions by Martin Bünning and Aryanaz Rezaian, Mahmoud A. El-Gamal, Syed Imad-ud-Dis Asad, Amel Makhlouf, Mathias Rohe, Hans Visser and Rodney Wilson.
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Papers by Hans Visser
The articles of this volume offer intriguing and origi-nal thoughts about the appropriate economic system for a Muslim society. Some of the concepts are based right away on socialism, while others call for a genu-ine, non-Western Islamic ‘third way’ between com-munism and capitalism. In fact, political reality has forced the secular Left to grapple with the response of Islamic movements to poverty and injustice. The vol-ume therefore also includes useful insights into the Left’s reaction to this political challenge.
The articles cover a wide range of world regions, not only the Middle East and Turkey, but also the Far East and North Africa, with a time span ranging from the late 19th century to the present. In addition, the reader is also introduced to economic concepts of early Islam and their textual sources.
This chapter is about the motives for Muslims to advocate the use of financial instruments that obey specific Islamic requirements. The movement for an Islamic economy and an Islamic financial system in particular, started in the second half of the 19th century with a new Islamic awakening but took a different turn after the First World War. A new impetus was given with the rise in oil wealth in a number of predominantly Muslim countries after the 1973–74 oil crisis and the success of Malaysia as a fast grower; both of which may have contributed to a new self-confidence that made it possible for Muslim governments and firms to develop new financial instruments, often in close cooperation with Western firms and without the feelings of resentment harboured by reformers of the 1930s and 1940s. The history of the movement towards Islamic finance, and Islamic economics in general, is outlined and the chapter concludes by highlighting the diversity of views among Muslims on the desirability of the direction it has taken.
This book explores the tensions between the religious and legal principles of Islamic finance and Islamic banking in practice. It does not limit itself to a legal discussion and presents an interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue between lawyers, theologians, and economists with roots in academia and practice. There is considerable divergence in their evaluation of the status quo and future of Islamic finance.
Contributions cover aspects of Islamic finance in theory and practice. It provides insights into the interplay of religion, ethics and finance covering both the Islamic and Christian traditions that sets the scene for Islamic finance in practice: economic technicalities of Islamic banking services, its regulatory aspects, and the complex legal arrangements of Islamic finance in non-Muslim-majority countries.
With contributions by Martin Bünning and Aryanaz Rezaian, Mahmoud A. El-Gamal, Syed Imad-ud-Dis Asad, Amel Makhlouf, Mathias Rohe, Hans Visser and Rodney Wilson.