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We can turn this on its head and ask a similarly tricky question: Should a human that can live for 1000 years be allowed to access interest rates that 100 year

We can turn this on its head and ask a similarly tricky question: Should a human that can live for 1000 years be allowed to access interest rates that 100 year humans get? A 1,000 year human has many more opportunities, and compounding interest will only grow his wealth further. Here's only an initial $1000 investment over 1000 years: https://www.calculator.net/interest-calculator.html?cstartingprinciple=1000&cannualaddition=0&cmonthlyaddition=0&cadditionat1=beginning&cinterestrate=5&ccompound=annually&cyears=1000&ctaxtrate=3&cinflationrate=3&printit=0&x=60&y=8#interestresults https://www.calculator.net/interest-calculator.html?cstartin... At the end of it, they have $358,816,... a huge amount of money. By year 730, they're quintillionaires. Then they have roughly 270 years to spend it, and on top of that, they can hand some of that wealth off to their offspring if inheritance rules don't change. (So really, it's the subsequent generations you really have to worry about) Near light travel time dilation is essentially life extension relative to planetary populations. So any interest paid to the traveler should be calculated at the fraction of time experienced, so 5 minutes to 5 days would be 1 / 1440. As for any opportunity cost, well, there really isn't any greater opportunity cost than being able to extend your life by that much and wait for interest to accrue. So by virtue of being able to travel at near light speed and dilate time, you're quite happy to forgo every other opportunity.

ryandrake 6y ago
> In other words, it doesn't matter that he experienced the travel as five minutes. What matters is that his options were limited for five days. > Near light travel time dilation is essentially life extension relative to planetary populations. So any interest paid to the traveler should be calculated at the fraction of time experienced, so 5 minutes to 5 days would be 1 / 1440. Why should either the lender's clock or the borrower's clock be considered more valid for the purpose of calculating interest? Why is one privileged over the other?
- qndreoi 6y ago
  I think the lender's clock would be most valid. If I go to the bank for a loan, they usually aren't open to negotiation. They say "Here are the terms. Want the money?"
  - takinola 6y ago
    That depends on how much money you are borrowing. For very large values of X, the power shifts to the borrower
tw25592285 6y ago
> Should a human that can live for 1000 years be allowed to access interest rates that 100 year humans get? Curious that you've framed the question in non-market terms (allowed by whom?). > A 1,000 year human has many more opportunities No more so than 10 generations of 100 year humans. People can and do coordinate over long time spans and multiple generations. Heck, that's basically what a corporation is. > compounding interest will only grow his wealth further Only insofar as they have deferred consumption for longer. This is how interest works. > At the end of it, they have $358,816,... a huge amount of money. Signifying the economic benefit from deferring consumption and instead putting those resources to productive use. This is a Good Thing. > So any interest paid to the traveler should be calculated at the fraction of time experienced, so 5 minutes to 5 days would be 1 / 1440. As you've described it, those travelers will already be more inclined to accept a lower interest rate than non-travelers. What's the problem?

ryandrake 6y ago

> In other words, it doesn't matter that he experienced the travel as five minutes. What matters is that his options were limited for five days. > Near light travel time dilation is essentially life extension relative to planetary populations. So any interest paid to the traveler should be calculated at the fraction of time experienced, so 5 minutes to 5 days would be 1 / 1440. Why should either the lender's clock or the borrower's clock be considered more valid for the purpose of calculating interest? Why is one privileged over the other?

qndreoi 6y ago
I think the lender's clock would be most valid. If I go to the bank for a loan, they usually aren't open to negotiation. They say "Here are the terms. Want the money?"
- takinola 6y ago
  That depends on how much money you are borrowing. For very large values of X, the power shifts to the borrower

tw25592285 6y ago

> Should a human that can live for 1000 years be allowed to access interest rates that 100 year humans get? Curious that you've framed the question in non-market terms (allowed by whom?). > A 1,000 year human has many more opportunities No more so than 10 generations of 100 year humans. People can and do coordinate over long time spans and multiple generations. Heck, that's basically what a corporation is. > compounding interest will only grow his wealth further Only insofar as they have deferred consumption for longer. This is how interest works. > At the end of it, they have $358,816,... a huge amount of money. Signifying the economic benefit from deferring consumption and instead putting those resources to productive use. This is a Good Thing. > So any interest paid to the traveler should be calculated at the fraction of time experienced, so 5 minutes to 5 days would be 1 / 1440. As you've described it, those travelers will already be more inclined to accept a lower interest rate than non-travelers. What's the problem?