I wanted to collect all comments in one page in the link given below, just so I could refer back to it, when I need a quick refresher on the basics of interest rates and what are the different POVS on it.
http://www.prateeksanjay.com/on-interest-rates/
I don't intend to contend or debate against anybody; I just want to know what all people with economics backgrounds or otherwise feel about views on interest rates. I just want to be a student, and collect all views together.
People prefer goods now versus goods in the future. So it is impossible to have a downward sloping or even flat yield curve in the absence of force. These flat or even inverted yield curves are the product of force, normally legal tender laws, that allow central banks to produce as much legal tender as they wish because people are forced to accept it.
Interest rates are prices of goods now versus goods in the future. Entrepreneurs use these prices to determine the profitability of business undertakings. Again in the presence of force acting to set interest rates, entrepreneurs see false information about the profitability of future investments and thus the force distorts the entire production process.