On the theory of credit and interest rate

Taking into account the peculiarities of the methodology of "pure economic theory" the article explores the issue of the root prerequisites for the emergence of credit relations. To this end, the model of simple exchange economy has been chosen as the object of analysis, being further simplified by abstracting from all phenomena and processes occurring outside the sphere of circulation. The vulnerable points of the two available approaches to analysis of the general nature of credit are shown: of that, which combines current and future goods within a single utility function, and that, which is based upon the assumption that consumers possess the so-called time preference. It has been demonstrated that within the framework of the adopted restrictions, the existence of goods, which generate a flow of services to consumers ("capital consumer goods"), rather than provide them with one-time satisfaction is the sufficient condition for the emergence of credit. In the course of solving the problem set in the article, an inextricable link between the current and transtemporal exchange is revealed, as well as a single basis for consumer and production credit - their use for investment purposes. It also becomes clear that credit relationships logically precede money, not the other way around, as is often assumed when analyzing it.