Can Economics Really Be Separated from Morality?
You’re right that explaining the economic benefits of riba / interest doesn’t automatically mean someone morally supports it. I also agree that someone can accept Austrian economic theories while still believing riba is haram.
In fact, the Qur’an itself makes this distinction in 2:219, where Allah acknowledges that alcohol and gambling have some benefits, but their sin is greater than their benefit. So something being economically useful doesn’t necessarily make it morally acceptable.
But my point is that economics isn’t always purely descriptive or separate from morality. There’s a difference between explaining how interest works and arguing that interest is justified because it’s efficient, beneficial, or because lenders deserve compensation for the opportunities they’ve given up.
You correctly point out that opportunity cost doesn’t necessarily lead to interest. But historically, opportunity cost was used to morally justify charging interest. The argument wasn’t simply that lenders lose opportunities, but that this loss gives them a right to compensation. That’s a moral judgment built on economic reasoning.
And just because theories like ABCT, ACT and ECP can be discussed without morality doesn’t mean economics as a whole is free from moral assumptions. You’re defending the descriptive nature of certain economic theories, but I’m questioning the broader claim that economic thought is entirely separate from moral judgments.
Also, calling this position “leftist” makes little sense. Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill all discussed economic questions in relation to morality, justice and how society ought to function. These debates existed long before modern leftist ideology.
So I agree with your distinction between describing something and endorsing it. But that distinction works both ways. Just because an economist presents an argument as rational or based on efficiency doesn’t automatically mean the argument is morally neutral.
My point isn’t that every economic theory is a moral argument. It’s that economics can contain moral assumptions, especially when it moves from explaining how something works to justifying why it should be accepted.
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