What are some notable scams in history that went unnoticed for so long?

Bady@lemmy.ml to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 383 points –
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Compound interest

In what way is compound interest a scam? Who has been "scammed" by compound interest and how?

For most of history charging interest was considered very unethical. There's even a derogatory term for it: usury.

It's a rather recent phenomenon that usury has become acceptable.

Yep. The one time Jesus got violent in the Bible, it was against the money lenders.

And that means it's a scam today how exactly? The Bible was pretty explicitly against a lot of things. Are they scams? Is wearing two different fabrics a scam? Is eating shellfish a scam?

Ok, but its archaic status as immoral does not make it a "scam" today.

It's a scam because it's literally free money for the lender. They do no work, they generate no value, but they still get paid.

Providing someone else money for a time to use for whatever purpose they desire is of no value? I think that literally most every person on the planet would disagree with you. Are you saying you've never borrowed money for anything, ever?