Böhm‐Bawerk on Time Preference: Economic Action Based on Future Needs

Abstract

Future needs play an important part in economic action. They urge private householders as well as society as a whole to choose between the immediate consumption of income and the saving of income for present and future satisfaction. In this situation of choice in economic conduct, Böhm‐Bawerk (1851–1914), the well‐known Austrian economist of the second generation, analysed the subject of time preference and put forward an explanation for interest. The aim of this essay is to review this theory and to assess its significance for present‐day economics.

Citation

Heijman, W. (1988), "Böhm‐Bawerk on Time Preference: Economic Action Based on Future Needs", Journal of Economic Studies, Vol. 15 No. 3/4, pp. 79-91. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb002672