… is from page 314 of Richard Posner’s 2001 book, Frontiers of Legal Theory:
It is necessary to distinguish between two types of belief, the notional and the action-impelling. The distinction corresponds to that between cheap talk and credible commitment (“putting your money where your mouth is”).
Political and academic talk is indeed too-often cheap. And cheap talk, especially when lubricated by cheap beliefs, is a source of significant negative externalities – negative externalities such as legislatively imposed minimum wages, “equal pay” regulations, trade restrictions, and a huge slew of other government actions. By far, the most consistently trustworthy pollster or ‘discoverer’ of what people truly want is the market.
