Hans-Hermann Hoppe, in his book Democracy: The God That Failed and his 1995 article in the Journal of Libertarian Studies, set forth an interesting theory concerning the difference in time preference between a monarch and a democratic politician. The argument stresses the difference in the use of political power according to the degree to which the ruler is future oriented. Hoppe also says that using the power of the state is in itself an expression of high time preference because the ruler can confiscate wealth from the population instead of producing wealth on his own, but the type and rate of wealth confiscation can express a relatively higher or lower time preference.
We can juxtapose two examples to drive home the point: a democratically elected politician

Read More »