Discounting the future

Abstract

Some people are in favor of discounting future goods compared with present goods, and others are against it. But there is less disagreement than there sometimes appears to be, because these people are often thinking of different sorts of goods. One may consistently discount future marketed commodities and at the same time refuse to discount future well-being. This paper does not discuss whether future well-being should be discounted, but it describes and assesses the case for discounting future commodities. It concludes that there is a case, but it is severely limited.