What Else Does the Bible Teach About Capitalism? February 2, 2012, 1:40 pm Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal published an opinion article by Rabbi Aryeh Spero titled "What the Bible Teaches About Capitalism," which argued that Americans should laud Mitt Romney's private equity career. An outline of his reasoning: The United States was founded upon "the Judeo-Christian ethos," and within that ethos "resides a ringing endorsement of capitalism as a moral endeavor." The Bible and related Judaic-Christian teaching are pro-capitalist, he argues, because God's people are told to work and encouraged to be creative (which could be read as entrepreneurial), and because the Tenth Commandment forbids envy (including envy of the 1 percent). Additionally, Rabbi Spero notes, "King Solomon's thriving kingdom crashed once his son decided to impose onerous taxes." Whatever capitalism's merits, I'm not sure hanging its moral legitimacy on Jewish Scripture is such a solid plan. The Holy Book also conveys plenty of ideas that are anti-capitalist and anti-free-market. Deuteronomy 23:19, for example, orders: "Do not charge your brother interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest." "Foreigners" can be charged interest, however. Exactly who counts as a foreigner has fueled centuries of debate, and at least one Shakespearean play. That play, "The Merchant of Venice" was home to the line "The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose," by the way. Additionally, a biblical prohibition against "taking advantage" of the person on the other side of a sale was interpreted by ancient rabbis to mean that sellers were permitted a profit margin that was no greater than one-sixth of a good's selling price. Any markup beyond that had to be returned to the buyer. That restriction might not go over very well in private equity circles.