[chcknsammich]

An interest rate is a price for a specific commodity (time preference on lent money)... it is nothing like taxes.

Interest rates (when controlled by a market) are a signal of how receptive a market is to investment in new capital or business, lower rates encouraging expansion and higher rates put on the brakes.

So for instance if the market is already growing at a healthy clip and a bank could invest money in existing business and get a higher return, they will not lend to you at a lower rate, unless your expected innovation or business can exceed the existing marketplace yield... which would cause you to accept a higher interest rate.

Taxes merely move buying power by edict to other enterprises. There is no tacit communication of any information, there is no price, and the only information used is the whims of the few individuals redirecting the spending.