[Diskussionsbeitrag zum Kohlenbergbau, Bd. II, S. 510, Nr. 54]

Emil Lederer: Discussion contribution on coal mining (1920)

This recorded commission speaking turn addresses the financing of an acquisition through annual payments. Lederer argues that Dr. Hilferding’s proposal already achieves what Cohen wants. His reasoning links the gradual acquisition of ownership to an increasing share of profits:

Wenn ich jedes Jahr 3½ % zahle und damit in den Besitz einrücke, so werde ich nach 15 Jahren ja überhaupt nichts mehr zu bezahlen haben, weil dann der Überschuß — es wird wirtschaftlich dasselbe sein —, weil der Gewinnanteil, den ich habe, ja schon so groß ist, daß ich gar nichts mehr zu zahlen habe.

English translation: If I pay 3½ % each year and thereby acquire ownership, then after 15 years I will no longer have anything to pay at all, because then the surplus—it will amount to the same thing economically—because the share of profits I have will already be so large that I no longer have anything to pay.

The core distinction is between a payment obligation and its net economic burden: Lederer expects the acquired profit share eventually to offset the payments. The brief intervention asserts equivalence between the proposals without supplying their terms or demonstrating the fifteen-year calculation.