Ludwig Von Mises, on the value of interest

Mises suggests that in order to increase the chances of survival and prosper both in the present and in the future, it is necessary to postpone the consumption of goods and services, in order to accumulate them, especially taking into account the future, where such goods and services They could be needed and they would be worth more. It is a question not of consuming, but of alternatives: because it is not a question of dying of starvation in order to accumulate for tomorrow, but of satisfying the needs and not spending everything; on the one hand, and on the other, tomorrow the same alternatives are the same: in the same way as today the consumption is postponed, tomorrow the same decision can be made, considering that in the near future the goods or services could give more benefits. Quoting Mises:

"If he (the consumer) wer not to prefer satisfaction in a nearer period of the future to that in a remoter period, he would never consume and so satisfy wants. He would always accumulate, he would never consume and enjoy. he would not consume, today, but he would not consume tomorrow either, as the tomorrow would confront him with the same alternative."

Von Mises, Ludwig. (1966). Human Action. Chicago: Henry Regnery, 3rd rev. ed. p. 486.