> Eugene,
> To "not discount" means to treat the "future enjoyments"
> as equal in value to present ones. That means using a
> zero discount rate.
> There are a lot of people in environmental and ecological
> economics who argue for this, along with a lot of others,
> including some from the Marxian tradition. There are a lot
> of issues floating around with this.
> Ramsey influenced Pigou who in 1932 complained
> about the "defective telescopic faculty" that people use when
> contemplating the future (and discounting, that is, devaluing it).
> Barkley Rosser
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Eugene Coyle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Thursday, March 01, 2001 2:48 PM
> Subject: [PEN-L:8568] Re: Re: [Fwd: Re: query: Frank Ramsey]
>
>
> >As I read the quoted sentence I take it to mean discount rates should be
> higher
> >than, not zero.
> >
> >Clarify?
> >
> >Gene Coyle
*************
<http://www.p-i-r.com/papers/75/>
Also Geoffrey Heal's "Valuing the Future: Economic Theory and Sustainability"
has excellent treatment of the issue [math alert].
Ian
