Consumption is the final, not the efficient, cause of production. The
efficient cause is savings, which can be said to represent the opposite of
consumption: they represent unconsumed goods. Consumption is the end of
production, and a dead end, as far as the productive process is concerned.
The worker who produces so little that he consumes everything he earns, carries
his own weight economically, but contributes nothing to future production. The
worker who has a modest savings account, and the millionaire who invests a
fortune (and all the men in between), are those who finance the future.