The theory of interstellar trade

By Paul Krugman, circa 1978.  He considers the arbitrage conditions for interstellar trade, given that not all traders will inhabit the same frame of temporal reference.  There is much humor in this piece. 

My own puzzling focuses on the determinants of real interest rates, given how time dilation changes the meaning of time preference.  As you approach the speed of light you move into the future relative to more stationary observers.  So can you not leave a penny in a savings account, take a very rapid spaceflight, and come back to earth "many years later" as a billionaire?  Hardly any time has passed for you.  In essence we are abolishing time preference, or at least allowing people to lower their time preference by spending money on fuel.  I believe that in such worlds the real interest rate cannot exceed the costs at which more fuel can "propel you into the future through time dilation."   

Whether the individual arbitrage conditions translate into economy-wide arbitrage conditions is a difficult puzzle.  What if everyone gets into a fast spaceship?  Do the savings accounts still bear positive interest?  How does the price of robots enter into this equation?

Is monetary policy neutral in such a world, with time travelers arbitraging against any attempt by the Fed to shift real interest rates?  Does the Fed have to subsidize the price of fuel to stimulate the economy?  Does everyone just end up in the future?

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