The last legal restrictions on taking interest on money were lifted only in the nineteenth century, when they succumbed to the economic argument that lending money was a service, for which the lender was entitled to charge whatever the market would bear. But the theory of usury survived in the view that it was morally wrong to extract some additional amount that was made feasible by the borrower’s weak bargaining position or extreme need.
最后一个禁止有息贷款的法律限制直到19世纪才得以放宽，因为人们开始认同放债其实是一种服务的经济观点，而放债者有权去收取市场可以承受的利息。但那种“高利贷有罪”理论依然存在，因为人们认为利用借款者的弱势谈判地位或者迫切需要而榨取额外收益的行为是不道德的。