Having just read ‘Debt: The First 5000 years’ I don’t think the author contends that price skyrocketing was the reason interest-bearing debt was banned, but I could be wrong.

Do you have a source?

It's a natural consequence of such. The main reason is that it is a predatory practice that feeds off of other people in need.

> It's a natural...

It is though? Again, do you have a source?

> The main reason is that it is a predatory practice that feeds off of other people in need.

Before it was said that the reason was skyrocketing prices?

> Before it was said that the reason was skyrocketing prices?

There are several reasons, which may be tightly correlated. You can't deny that interest bearing loans are predatory due to the fact that they feed off the needs of others, some of which are beyond their control. Secondly, because now interest bearing loans are a means of making income (particularly for those with a lot of money), we end up with the cycle where loans are advertised to people, such that people who don't need them are heavily incentivized to get them (e.g. mortgages, credit cards, etc.). We end up in the cycle we see today.

Which major religion other than Islam forbids it?

Usury was prohibited in Christianity until not that long ago.

"At the time, usury was interest of any kind, and the canon forbade the clergy to lend money at interest rates even as low as 1 percent per year. Later ecumenical councils applied this regulation to the laity." - https://www.jstor.org/stable/3161033?seq=1#page_scan_tab_con...

I read somewhere that this is behind the awful stereotypes in the merchant of venice. Because of the historical prohibitions within the religion, loans were taken out with lenders from outside the religion.

It's been some time since my Bible studies but isn't there something in the Old Testament against loans / lending money with interest?

According to the following, it's prohibited:

[1] https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Leviticus+25:36%E2%80%9325...

[2] https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Exodus+22:25

No. It says the borrower is a slave to the lender and to be aware. But it is not against the Church.

Leviticus 25:36-37 says otherwise.

Judaism and Christianity. Although many of their followers strayed from the original teachings.