1. The price of providing a credit is expressed by an interest rate.
Whatever the duration of the credit, making its price easily comparable to that of another credit offer requires expressing the price in terms of an annual interest rate.
2. Saving placement incomes are either profits or interests.
The tax authorities, for audit purposes, have no difficulty in getting taxpayers to declare their saving placement income, which is on the one hand interest and on the other hand, profits.
3. A major difference between savings in capital and saving in credit is growth.
Consider two countries in the same currency area. The stocks of savings invested are about the same amount, and the weights of public charges and public investments are very similar. But in one of the two countries, the proportion of the stock of savings placed in capital is much higher than in the other. The growth of the country's economy will be higher. What is valid in this respect for two countries during the same period of time applies to one country from one period of its history to the next.
4. Partly because of this difference, a clear distinction between capital and credit and interest from profit must be made in economic theory and policy.
Conversely, anyone who considers it unfortunate that growth is fuelled more by new savings in capital than by a greater opening of the credit tap is inclined to pay little attention to this reason. The major credit providers are pushing to spread this point of view, which is favorable to increasing their importance.