Roundaboutness

Roundabout methods of production or roundaboutness is a term devised by the Austrian economist, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, to describe the capitalistic, production process whereby capital goods are produced first and then, with the help of the capital goods, the desired consumer goods are produced.

Since "roundabout methods" imply a circuitous indirectness that is more time consuming than is necessary for the ends sought, Mises stresses the fact that the capitalistic method of production is the shortest, quickest, most direct and most economic method known for attaining the ends sought?greater consumer satisfaction. Böhm-Bawerk maintained that it was consumer demand, and not necessarily the supply of savings, that would determine the capital investment in any industry.

Links

 * Roundaboutness is Not a Mysterious Concept: A Financial Application to Capital Theory by Nicolas Cachanosky and Peter Lewin, March 2014