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First published 1930

The Positive Theory of Capital

by Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk

NY: G.E. Stechert, 1930468 pagesISBN 9781610160926Updated June 9, 2011

The Positive Theory of Capital by Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk is available as a free PDF and EPUB download at freecapitalists.org.

Author
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk
First published
1930
Format
PDF and EPUB
Pages
468
ISBN
9781610160926
Publisher
NY: G.E. Stechert
License
Believed to be in the public domain by publication date; not independently confirmed.

Austrian theory & method

This is the second book in the series of Boehm-Bawerk translations by Scottish economist William Smart, originally published in 1891. It is, as the title suggests, the positive theory of capital.

It begins with full front matter by Smart himself, and then we come to book one: The Nature and Conception of Capital. Six sections follow: Capital as an Instrument of Production, Value, Price, Present and Future, The Source of Interest, The Rate of Interest, and finally a rich and detailed index.

It follows the author's legendary method of systematically thinking and clear exposition to present what is called today the time-preference theory of interest, that is to say, that the passage of time and the preference for the present over the future are the necessary and sufficient conditions for the emergence of interest. Capital is the correlary to that notion: all production takes place over time.

This is the first time this translation has been in print in longer than half a century.

Questions

About this book and this copy

Is The Positive Theory of Capital free to download?
Yes. The complete 468-page PDF and EPUB downloads directly from this page (21.3 MB). There is no signup, no account and no paywall.
How long is The Positive Theory of Capital?
468 pages, 48 chapters, and about 165,485 words in the edition this archive serves.
Who wrote The Positive Theory of Capital?
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (1851–1914) was an Austrian economist, professor at the University of Vienna, and three-time Austrian finance minister. This archive holds 9 of von Böhm-Bawerk's works.

What's in it

48 chapters · 165,485 words · free to read here

  1. Translator's Preface
  2. Author's Preface
  3. Introduction
  4. Chapter I. Man and Nature
  5. Chapter II. The Nature of Capital
  6. Chapter III. Historical Development of the Conception
  7. Chapter IV. The True Conception of Capital
  8. Chapter V. The Competing Conceptions of Capital
  9. Chapter VI. Social and Private Capital
  10. Chapter I. Introductory
  11. Chapter II. Capitalist Production
  12. Chapter III. The Function of Capital in Production
  13. Chapter IV. The Theory of the Formation of Capital
  14. Chapter V. Formation of Capital in a Community
  15. Chapter VI. Possible Objections
  16. Chapter I. The Two Conceptions of Value
  17. Chapter II. Nature and Origin of Subjective Value
  18. Chapter III. The Amount of Value
  19. Chapter IV. The Marginal Utility
  20. Chapter V. Complications
  21. Chapter VI. What Determines Marginal Utility
  22. Chapter VII. Alternative Uses
  23. Chapter VIII. Subjective Exchange Value
  24. Chapter IX. The Value of Complementary Goods
  25. Chapter X. The Value of Productive Goods.Value and Costs
  26. Book IV: Price
  27. Chapter I. Present and Future in Economic Life
  28. Chapter II. Differences in Want and Provision for Want
  29. Chapter III. Underestimate of the Future
  30. Chapter IV. The Technical Superiority of Present Goods
  31. Chapter V. Co-operation of the Three Factors
  32. Chapter I. The Loan and Loan Interest
  33. Chapter II. The Profit of Capitalist Undertaking. Principles of Explanation
  34. Chapter III. The Profit of Capitalist Undertaking. Complications
  35. Chapter IV. The Profits of Capitalist Undertaking. The Labour Market
  36. Chapter V. The Profit of Capitalist Undertaking. The General Subsistence Market
  37. Chapter VI. The Profit of Capitalist Undertaking. The General Subsistence Market
  38. Chapter VII. Interest from Durable Goods
  39. Chapter VIII. Interest from Durable Goods
  40. Chapter IX. Results
  41. Chapter X. Interest under Socialism
  42. Chapter I. The Rate in Isolated Exchange
  43. Chapter II. The Rate in Market Transactions
  44. Chapter III. The Bate in Market Transactions (continued)
  45. Chapter IV. The Market for Capital in its Full Development
  46. Chapter V. The Market for Capital in its Full Development (continued)
  47. Appendix to page 327
  48. Index of Authors Mentioned
Portrait of Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk

About the author

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk 1851–1914

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (1851–1914) was an Austrian economist, professor at the University of Vienna, and three-time Austrian finance minister. Read more about Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk.

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