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Your Introduction to Islamic Economy

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Wed, 28 January 2015, 7.30pm | English

Singapore Management University (SMU) Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB)

SMU Islamic Business & Finance Society

seminar

Fees: Free

The economic policies put forth by almost all the major economies of the world are based on Keynesian theories, a combination of monetary and fiscal policies that focuses on adjusting interest rates and government spending to influence the state of the economy. But today many Economists are questioning the Keynesian model. Demand driven Economics that rely upon the expansion of credit coupled with the unstable fiat money currency system has led to a boom-bust cycle, collapsing economies that is now unfolding in Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, and the “Too Big to Fail” phenomena. This has led to a clarion call for reform and hence a search for a viable and functional alternative. Many now believe that one such alternative lies in Islamic economics.

The seminar aims to introduce to the attendees Islamic economics as an alternative to the conventional economy. The challenge is in understanding Islamic economics, regardless of religious orientation. Thus this seminar, aims to introduce certain precepts of Islamic economics, juxtaposing them with more familiar Keynesian and Western Classical Economic assumptions and philosophy. It is hoped that this will create a more nuanced understanding of Islamic Banking and Finance beyond that of it being just an "ethical" non-interest-based form of conventional banking. Indeed, true Islamic Banking should be conceptualised and contextualised within a proper Islamic Economic system with its own attendant principles, tenets and values.