A Vague Theory of Choice over Time

We propose a novel approach to modelling time preferences, based on a cognitive shortcoming of human decision makers: the perception of future events becomes increasingly ‘blurred’ as the events are pushed further in time. We axiomatise a class of preference representations which can be specialised to rationalise ‘anomalies’ such as preference reversals and cyclical preferences. We also present an application to a form of time inconsistency which we dub ‘the now or never fallacy’.