THE THEORY OF INTEREST

by different individuals in society. It is astonishing howlittle economists have contributed to resolving the prob-lems of distribution so conceived. A statistical beginningwas made by Professor Pareto in his presentation ofinteresting “curves of distribution of income.” 5 For theUnited States, Professor W. I. King 6 and the NationalBureau of Economic Research 7 , and for England, SirJosiah Stamp 8 have made and analyzed important sta-tistical compilations on the amount and distribution ofincome and capital wealth by income groups and socialclasses. On the theory of distribution, especially the roleof interest in distribution, John Rae seems to have con-tributed more than any other writer 9 . He showed in avivid way that persons who had naturally what we havecalled in this book a low rate of impatience or preferencefor present over future income tended to accumulatesavings, whereas those who had the opposite trait tendedto spend their incomes and even their capitals.

In previous chapters it is shown that the rates of pref-erence among different individuals are equalized by bor-rowing and lending or, what amounts to the same thing,

‘Pareto, Cows d J Economic Politique, Vol. II, Book III.

* King, W. I., The Wealth and Income oj the People of the UnitedState, New York , The Macmillan Co., 1915.

7 Mitchell, W. C., King, W. I. , Macaulay, F. R., Knauth, 0. W.,Income in the United States. New York, National Bureau of EconomicResearch, Inc., 1922.

Knauth, O. W., Distribution of Income by States in 1919. New York ,Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1922.

Leven, Maurice, and King, W. I. , Income in the Various States; ItsSources and Distribution, 1919, 1920, and 1921. New York , NationalBureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1925.

“Stamp , Sir Josiah, Wealth and Taxable Capacity. London, P. S.King & Son, Ltd., 1922. Also, British Incomes and Property. London,P. S. King & Son, 1916.

" Rae , The Sociological Theory of Capital, Chapter XIII.

[ 334 ],