The Art of RF (Riba-Free) Islamic Banking and Finance: Tools and Techniques for Community-Based Banking, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 8 The Conventional Riba-Based Banking System

THE BANKING SYSTEM OF THE UNITED STATES

The United States has developed the most sophisticated and highly dispersed banking network and system in the world. The American banking system, when it was developed, benefited from the accumulated body of human experience over history, including many religious values, human experiences, and documented and sophisticated solutions to problems faced while developing the system in the United States and other systems in Europe. The system was and continues to be built using the most capable minds, accounting methods and standards, mathematical tools, regulatory disciplines, and analyses available in the world. It is a project in progress. We are reminded that it would be embarrassing to write about the American banking and financial system after what happened in 2008, when the system failed miserably. It is believed that when the lessons learned from the worst crisis since the Great Depression are applied and the system is modified, it will be better: well designed, well positioned, and ready for a better future, not only for the United States, but for the rest of the world. This was proven in the aftermath of the 2008 debacle, as witnessed later on in 2011. History has shown that a country can have the most sophisticated system in the world, but if some people, who are part and parcel of the system, do not respect it and instead indirectly try to sabotage it by trying to get around the ...