TANSTAAFL (TANSTA A FL) [KAXA MORI]

Mr. Mori Akira's Profile

Economist. Affiliated with a think tank (United States). Specialties are exchange rate policy, monetary policy, macroeconomic policy, and financial regulation. Interacts with market participants, financial officials, and policymakers, and analyzes exchange rate trends from multiple perspectives.

At the beginning of the year, I went to San Diego for an academic conference. The climate was very good, refreshing, and sunny, so I love California. Watching many sailboats docked, it might be worth thinking about the Pacific Ocean (Image ①).

Now, readers, you may be familiar with the “No Free Lunch Theorem.” Probably you have heard this phrase at least once. First, a brief explanation of the origin of the term. In the old days, in a certain bar in the United States, there was a promotion that “lunch is served free if you come to drink,” and customers who saw the promotion faithfully visited because free lunch sounded good. However, in reality, the lunch cost was added to the drink price, and customers unknowingly paid for lunch. The phrase “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch” is abbreviated as “TANSTAAFL” in the United States.

This proverb, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” became widely known after it was featured in Robert A. Heinlein’s sci‑fi novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress in 1966, and investors and businesspeople have enjoyed using this proverb.