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One of the major dangers with interest is it compounds in bad times. Someone gets laid off for 6 months and suddenly owes more money, this is especially problematic if someone gets injured and can no longer make the same income etc.

Fees are one option. If you agree to a 2 year loan of 100$ as long as they pay you back 110$ that’s acceptable, the difference being if it takes them 3 years you still only get 110$. Obviously this runs into problems with inflation and people skipping payments etc, but it’s one socially “fair” way to handle loans between friends and family.



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