What Can We Learn from the Böhm-Bawerkian Theory in the World of Zero Interest?

Negative real rates of interest observed in the majority of the most developed countries seem to be at variance with the Böhm-Bawerk agio theory, which was designed to explain a positive natural rate of interest. In this paper, a simple discounted utility model is used to show that this situation is in perfect accordance with the Böhm-Bawerk theory. The most important causes for the negative natural rate of interest, which might be detected in his work, are discussed in detail, and it is shown that the first Böhm-Bawerkian ground for interest is the best candidate to explain this phenomenon