Max Weber’s “Time Is Money” Argument Analysis

Topic: Economics
Words: 625 Pages: 2
Table of Contents

Introduction

“Remember, that time is money” (Weber, 1958, p. 187)

Max Weber is the theorist, who supports Benjamin Franklins claim that time and money are closely related to each other. Throughout his work, The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, Weber provides readers with evidence that time is the value that turns into financial profit. The attitude displaying money as the greatest value, capable of being exchanged for other benefits, underlines the principles of society building, such as hierarchy. In the contemporary world, money plays an even more significant role, as the number of opportunities for people was increased. Therefore, the importance of time, money, and dependence between them is apparent.

Main body

I believe that under the statement that time is money, Max Weber means that obtaining more financial benefits provides individuals with additional time. In the meanwhile, paying more time to a certain business may result in extra financial profit.

The theorist claims that the opportunity of earning more is not as attractive as the same of working less (Weber, 1958). It means that the value of extra time is higher than the extra money, which, I believe, is true to a certain extent. When an individual cannot afford the primary necessities, it is not essential if they are always available. On the other hand, the amount of money is not significant when a person is not capable of having rest, as physical and mental requirements are not met as well. Nowadays, it can be noticed that the situation has not changed considerably, as the mentioned dependency is still true. Moreover, the contemporary world shows the tendency to constantly increase the dynamics of life, which makes the opposite relation between earned money and spent time even more apparent.

The other Max Webers evidence, which supports the claim that time is money is appealing to the acquisitive instinct through lower wage rates. It implies that reduced wages force employees to work harder to earn the same amount of money (Weber, 1958). The dependence between financial profit and time is revealed through the evidence that individuals tend to have a certain balance between their income and business. The purpose of it is to meet physical and mental requirements at the same time. From this point of view, it is necessary to regulate the personal business on the times value and the level of demand basis. Therefore, as the availability of each person can be estimated financially, this fact directly indicates that the statement that time is money is true.

In the contemporary world, the value of each hour of work is the common method of assessing an individuals quality of life. I assume that a higher wage indicates the employee is of greater importance, from the perspective of effectiveness. The more an individual earns per hour, the more considerable the influence on the balance between personal availability and business is. All the mentioned above points are evidence that nowadays, the discussed dependence is as valuable as it was during Max Webers period of life.

Conclusion

Max Weber is a theorist, who describes the rationale for Benjamins Franklin statement that time is money. The work The spirit of capitalism emphasizes the significance of the mentioned claim and provides evidence, which supports its reliability. During the 20th century, time was considered equal to money, which is described by Max Weber. The more time an individual spends, the higher income they obtain, balancing the physical and mental requirements at the same time. From my perspective, in the contemporary world, the mentioned dependence is still true, and the theorists arguments are fully related to modern-day society. Due to the increased dynamics of life, money became even more dependent on time, which only increases the reliability of the statement.

Reference

Weber, M. (1958). The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism (1st ed.). Upper Saddle River Library.