Scot,
I think the issue here is not only whether we can write the equations correctly (which often we don’t), but also – and perhaps more so — whether the equations justify our conclusions.
You write that:
In a world where the capitalist uses the capitalization equation to set what it will pay for input costs such as wages by discounting its expected profits from future sales, the discount rate used by the capitalist determines (and ensures) the capitalist’s profits.
I think this interpretation is fundamentally wrong.
In and of themselves, capitalist expectations of profit, the ex-ante discount rate used to concoct these expectations, and the impact these expectations have on how much they spend on inputs, do not and cannot determine, let alone ensure, actual profits.
It seems to me that your claim here is not only unrealistic, but also self-contradictory.
Imagine every potential capitalist expecting his/her own profit into existence. This mana-from-heaven magic will make everyone an instant, insatiated capitalist, bring their individual expectations into conflict with each other, and pretty much ascertain that their actual profits will differ from what they expect.
In my view, discounted values do not generate power. Instead, it is power that generates discounted values.
But we can agree to disagree.