Choosing a World's/Region's/etc. Interest Rates

In several RPG campaigns, I've seen player characters try to either make investments or borrow significant amounts of money. This made me wonder: which sorts of worlds should have interest rates that significantly differ from the ranges found on modern Terra?

For example: Should the moneylenders of stereotypical fantasy worlds with their MedievalStasis ask for a temporary use of their money? How about setting with galaxy-spanning, millennia-old republics, like Star Wars - should their rates be low because the economy seems to be rather stable? How about the opposite extreme of fast-paced cyberpunk and transhumanist settings with the singularity right behind the corner - should their rates be high because the world is changing and growing fast, and if so, how high (tens, hundreds etc.)?

Which world details should I keep in mind when deciding on how expensive it is usually to borrow money and how profitable is it to invest it, and how do those details influence the number? How much should it vary by region/polity/etc.?

I'm not expecting the things learned from answers to enable me to figure out highly precise and 100% reliable numbers. But learning at least about the likely trends and orders of magnitude would be nice.

posted over 5 years ago

vicky_molokh‭

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