Quote: Didact’s Reach: Why you should not major in Economics

1. Man’s desires are not objective, they are subjective.

2. Thus, attempting to measure or mathematically calculate the utility that Man derives from any good or service is immediately rendered futile.

3. There can be no consumption without production.

4. The ability to defer consumption is determined individually, based on individual circumstances.

5. When Man satisfies his most immediate needs and is able to defer consumption to some present point, he is able to concern himself with increasing his production through better skills, better resources, and better technologies.

6. Deferred consumption (or savings) thus creates a positive feedback effect, in which Man’s time-preference rate falls over time. This rate is denoted most simply by «the rate of interest» in the economy.

7. No man can do everything, but by concentrating on that which he does best and trading with others for that which he does poorly, Man reduces his time preference rate further.

8. Through this process of Man’s actions, he progresses from barbarity to civilisation by deferring present consumption to provide for future consumption and comfort.

via Didact’s Reach: Why you should not major in Economics.