Once upon a time, Tinstaafl was made King of all the lands. His first act was to call all his economic advisers and tell them to write up all the economic knowledge the society possessed. After the years of work, they presented their monumental effort: 25 volumes, each about 400 pages long. But in the interim, King Tinstaafl had become a very busy man, what with running a kingdom of all the lands and everything. Looking at the lengthy volumes, he told his advisers to summarize their findings in one volume.
Despondently, the economists returned to their desks, wondering how they could summarize what they'd been so careful to spell out. After many more years of rewriting, they were finally satisfied with their one-volume effort, and tried to make an appointment to see the King. Unfortunately, affairs of state had become even more pressing than before, and the King couldn't take the time to see them. Instead he sent word to them that he couldn't be bothered with the whole volume, and ordered them, under the threat of death (for he had become a tyrant), to reduce the work to one sentence.
The economists returned to their desks, shivering in their sandals and pondering the impossible task. Thinking about their fate if they were not successful, they decided to send out for the last meal. Unfortunately, when they were collecting money to pay for the meal, they discovered they were broke. The disgusted delivery man took the last meal back to the cook, and the economists started down the path to the beheading station. On the way, the delivery man's parting words echoed in their ears. They looked at each other and suddenly they realized the truth. " We're saved! " they screamed. " That's it! That's economic knowledge in one sentence!" They wrote the sentence down and presented it to the King, who thereafter fully understood all economics problems. (He also gave them a good meal.)
The sentence? There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch – TINSTAAFL
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