Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk’s “Interest Theory of 1876”

To our knowledge, this is the first English translation of Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk’s seminar paper of 1876. Böhm-Bawerk apparently thought his 1876 seminar paper had some significance. Still, he chose not to publish it during his lifetime. This is understandable given that Capital and Interest was available, but it is more difficult to understand why it was not published after his death in 1914. This English translation draws from three sources in German: (1) the original handwritten seminar paper located in the Hayek Library at the University of Salzburg; (2) a transcription from the Ludwig von Mises Collection in the Grove City College Archives; and (3) a transcription published by Kiichiro Yagi in March 1983.