Future Rice Is Discounted Less Steeply Than Future Money in Thailand. Masaharu Takahashi, Nobuo Masataka, Suchinda Malaivijitnond, and Siriwat Wongsiri

There is evidence that people discount food more steeply than money, suggesting
that primary or consumable reinforcers lose value quickly, whereas conditioned
or nonconsumable reinforcers lose value slowly. In the present study,
discounting rates of baht (unstable currency) and rice (preservable food) were
compared during a period of unstable economic conditions in Thailand. Delay
discounting of 2 amounts of hypothetical money and 2 matched amounts of
hypothetical rice were examined. For smaller amounts of rewards, there was no difference in rates of discounting between money and a matched amount of rice. For larger amounts of rewards, however, money was discounted more steeply than a matched amount of rice. It was suggested that the unstable currency might be discounted more severely than a durable good of comparable monetary value in some circumstances.