Re: ethical problem? Some kind of problem, anyway...

Ron Kean (ronkean@juno.com)
Tue, 20 Apr 1999 12:34:43 -0400

On Tue, 20 Apr 1999 09:08:25 -0500 "Billy Brown" <bbrown@conemsco.com> writes:

>Immortality would give everyone a chance to let compound interest turn
>their
>pennies into dollars, and their dollars into riches. Of course, if
>it
>becomes common for people to retire and live off their interest the
>economy
>is going to start looking pretty strange.
>
>Billy Brown, MCSE+I
>bbrown@conemsco.com
>
>

Interest rates are set by supply and demand. If almost everyone were trying to lend substantial amounts, and almost no one creditworthy was willing to borrow similar amounts, real interest rates for sound loans would be extraordinarily low compared to what we are used to. Likewise for return on capital invested in stocks.

In the economic world, immortality already exists in a sense. Corporations, banks, foundations, endowments, perpetual trusts, governments and other such entities are potentially immortal. Some few of those entities which have been in operation for a century or more have compounded their gains into enormous wealth. (Example: DuPont, GE) But that was in an environment where safe real returns on capital were in the range of perhaps 4% to 8% per year.

Ron Kean

.

.

.

.



You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]