What if time was a tradable commodity?

It is very difficult to comprehend a world with such a possibility. The possibility

itself has a lot of uncertainties and raises a lot of ambiguous questions.
The first very basic question would be what would time be traded for? Would it
be time in exchange of money, time for time or time in exchange of any other
commodity? Since we will be majority looking at the economic aspect of it, lets
look at the basic construct of such a model first.
The crux of economics is the fact that resources are limited. Since we consider
time as a tradable resource, we must first define wither it is limited or unlimited
in our model?
Time in itself is a continuum of never ending events. From the big bang, to the
creation of earth and life, to the vast unknown future ahead; time was always
there and will always be. But in our definitional analysis time is limited in the
sense that we are very much conscious of the growth and ageing process going
around. A seed sown germinates into a plant, bear fruits and flower and dies; so
does every living being. In fact, it is mortality that creates a sense of scarcity of
time and adds importance to it. So, we can logically conclude that since time is
no physical resource, we cant quantify its amount but its sense of scarcity
remains as it is now.
Listed below are the basic assumptions of this model

Everyone is born with a fixed amount of time (say 100 years), which keeps
on declining as one grows.
The normal growth and ageing process continues until someone trades
time.
Individual can trade time only by mutual consent of each other.
Proportionate adjustments in the growth and ageing process automatically
takes place after one has traded time.
The available time varies due to external factors similar to the real
physical world we live in today (say smoking reduces the available time).

What are the economic implication of such a model?

The first thing to understand is that it would not change the function of money.
People would use money for transaction and other purposes as of now. Time
would then become just another commodity and there would emerge an
exchange rate between money and time. This has a direct implication that it
would then lead to reduction in income inequality. The fact that money begets
money causes the poor to remain poor and the rich become richer. But now since
time can be traded for money a poor would be very willing to trade his time in
exchange of money, which he can invest to improve his condition and lead the
remaining life in a better way.
It is further, interesting to note that the rate of exchange would naturally be
determined by the wage rate. Wage rate is the amount paid in return of labour

hours provided. So a backward equivalence would be established. To explain it

with example- suppose the wage rate is Rs. 100 per hour. The buyer would be
willing to pay anything less than or equal to Rs. 100 in exchange of an hour
(since he can definitely earn Rs. 100 working one hour). The seller would be
willing to provide an hour for anything more than or equal to Rs. 100. So, the
time money exchange rate would naturally be equal to wage rate.
It would reduce income inequality in the sense that now everyone is born with an
extra resource which they can exchange for money. A relation b/w time money
good would be established.
Now, let us look at its implication on labour market. With different quantity of
available time and different ageing rate the MPL (Marginal Productivity of Labour)
would vary, but firms will now have labours with higher MP L than before. So, the
MPL would shift parallel upwards or the demand of labours by firms would
increase at each wage rate. But at each wage rate the supply of labour would
remain unchanged as there is no change in number of people looking for work or
there is no incentive to work more. This would increase the wage rate and also
the employment. A rise in Wage rate means rise in time money exchange rate.
Hence, time would, consequently become more valuable in monetary terms than
before.
There can be myriad implications but it can be said that there wont be any
sudden drastic change and time would become another commodity of exchange.

bipul verma