TANSTAAFL. (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch)
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- TANSTAAFL summarizes the economic principle that every benefit has a cost.
- In plain terms
- Nothing is truly free; someone always pays.
- What can you take from it?
- Everything has a cost.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who pays for public goods?
- Are there any true free lunches?
Another view
Sometimes externalities are not immediately obvious.
More from Robert A. Heinlein
Must be a yearning deep in human heart to stop other people from doing as they please. Rules, laws - always for other fellow. A murky part of us, something we …
Permalink to quote #38 Progress doesn't come from early risers - progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.
Permalink to quote #40 I will accept the rules that you feel necessary to your freedom. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I f…
Permalink to quote #37
Related quotes
Sonja: I do believe that this is truly the best of all possible worlds. Boris: Well, it's certainly the most expensive.
Woody AllenWoody Allen quote #44 Polly: Education with socialists, it's like sex, all right as long as you don't have to pay for it.
Alan BennettAlan Bennett quote #2 [U]nlike a well-defined, precise game like Russian roulette, where the risks are visible to anyone capable of multiplying and dividing by six, one does not obs…
Nassim Nicholas TalebNassim Nicholas Taleb quote #4