SECOND APPROXIMATION

itself real income, but consists of services which, rela-tively to some other capital source, are disservices, thusconstituting intermediate income or interactions. Butthose items are readily transformed, through a chain ofcredits and debits, into real, and then into enjoyment in-come. Thus the ore of the mine is exchanged for money,and the money spent for enjoyable services or for com-modities which soon yield enjoyable services, so that thereal income closely copies in time shape 4 the originalintermediate income from the mine.

§3. The Two Kinds of Choice

The possessor of the mine, however, is not compelledthus to copy in his real income the mine’s fluctuationsof physical or natural income. He may counteract anyfluctuations in his whole net income which may be caused,in the first instance, by the choice of income C ratherthan B, or A. Or, if he prefers, he may further exaggeratethose fluctuations. In fact he may make the time shape ofhis income follow any model he likes. He may do thisas described under the first approximation, by eitherborrowing or lending in suitable amounts and at suitabletimes along his income stream; or, more generally, bybuying and selling income streams or parts of incomestreams so as to fashion the time shape of his own finalnet enjoyable income to suit himself.

He may, for instance, so far as time shape is concerned,achieve an even flow of income such as he could get fromthe farm use of his land. But he will not on that accountchoose this farm use in preference to the mining use;for the mining use has the larger present value, and theundesirable time shape of its income stream, under our4 See The Nature oj Capital and Income, Chapters VIII, IX, XVII.

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