"The shortage of buyers, which the world is suffering from, is readily understood, not as due to people not wishing to obtain possession of goods, but as people being unwilling to part with something which might earn a regular income in exchange for those goods"

Paul Dirac addresses a paradox at the heart of economic stagnation: the scarcity of buyers does not stem from a lack of desire to consume, but from an unwillingness to relinquish assets or money that have the potential to generate regular income. The driving force here is not the absence of human wants, people always wish for goods and services. Rather, individuals hesitate to exchange what they currently possess (such as money, stocks, or other forms of wealth) for consumables, because these assets are seen as sources of future financial security or income through interest, dividends, or capital gains.

What Dirac identifies is a psychological and structural barrier to spending. People see income-generating assets as a means to ensure stability and growth of their wealth. To spend these assets on goods means forgoing the predictable returns they could offer over time. Thus, the willingness to consume is constrained not by desire, but by the perceived opportunity cost: holding onto assets is indulged in because of their potential to yield profits or financial safety.

This insight resonates particularly during periods of economic uncertainty or deflation, when holding onto cash or liquid assets seems safer than converting them into immediate consumption. If many individuals act similarly, the aggregate effect is a systemic reduction in demand: markets experience a “shortage of buyers.” The issue becomes macroeconomic, leading to underconsumption and economic slowdown, regardless of technological capability or productive abundance. Dirac’s observation draws an implicit connection to Keynesian concerns about liquidity preference, the tendency to hoard money rather than circulate it during times of perceived economic risk.

His comment also has contemporary relevance, where investment assets are often seen as more valuable than consumer goods, and where social and economic structures heavily reward wealth accumulation over spending. The challenge, then, is to create environments, whether through policy, sentiment, or innovation, where individuals feel confident enough to convert their potential income-generating assets into actual consumption, fueling economic growth.