Reply To: Money

#16928
jmherbener
Participant

Consumer goods and producer goods are defined by their proximity to the attainment of an end. A consumer good satisfies an end in one action. A producer good takes more than one action to satisfy an end. Saving is done to earn interest which is a step toward attaining more valuable consumer goods in the future. Holding money (as money itself, i.e., the medium of exchange) is done to deal with uncertainty but does so only because money can be spent to accommodate unforeseen occurrences. Money’s usefulness (as money itself and not the general usefulness of the object used as money, like gold) is as a medium of exchange. But to obtain the use value of the medium of exchange, it must (eventually) be spent to acquire goods that then are used to satisfy ends.

In economic logic, we don’t refer to intermediate steps toward the attainment of an (ultimate) end as attaining (intermediate) ends. There is just the (ultimate) end attained at the end of all the necessary steps. If I wish to satisfy my hunger in the morning, then eating bacon and eggs directly attains my end. So they are consumer goods. The money I use to buy the bacon and eggs at the restaurant indirectly satisfies my hunger. The labor of the waitress and cook, likewise, indirectly satisfy my hunger. So neither money nor labor is a consumer good.