13-5b2a0 Utilities or values between persons cannot be compared—but demonstrated time-preference schedules can be compared

The rate of interest can be uniform in the evenly rotating economy, because the incommensurable differences are mediated by time-preference schedules—which are comparable thanks to money.develop

“We cannot compare utilities or values between persons, but we certainly may say that A’s time-preference schedule is higher than B’s. In other words, it cannot make sense to compare the rankings or utilities that the two men accord to any particular unit of a good, but we can (if we know them) compare their schedules based purely on their demonstrated time preferences.” (p. 385)

Next:

• 13-5b2a0.1 Only demonstrated time-preference schedules can be compared—we can say “A has demonstrated higher time-preference than B” but we cannot say “A has higher time-preference than B”

Related:

• 13-4d3 Values cannot be measured
• 13-5d2 Interest is not the reward of capital goods per se—it is derived from the generalized investment of time
• 13-7a Utilities cannot be combined
• 13-9a3 Praxeology is concerned with preference as revealed through choice