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Notable Quote

"Present goods are, as a rule, worth more than future goods of like kind and number. This proposition is the kernel and center of the interest theory."

— von Böhm-Bawerk, Eugen event 1884

From Capital and Interest

Context: The Positive Theory of Capital (1889), Book V. This is Böhm-Bawerk's foundational axiom — the observation that humans systematically prefer goods available now over the same goods available later. From this single insight he derives the entire structure of capital theory and explains why interest is not exploitation but a natural premium on time.

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