<P> The phrase and the acronym are central to Robert Heinlein 's 1966 science - fiction novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress , which helped popularize it . The free - market economist Milton Friedman also popularized the phrase by using it as the title of a 1975 book , and it is used in economics literature to describe opportunity cost . Campbell McConnell writes that the idea is `` at the core of economics '' . </P>
<P> The phrase and the acronym are central to Robert Heinlein 's 1966 science - fiction novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress , which helped popularize it . The free - market economist Milton Friedman also popularized the phrase by using it as the title of a 1975 book , and it is used in economics literature to describe opportunity cost . Campbell McConnell writes that the idea is `` at the core of economics '' . </P>
what does the phrase theres no such thing as free lunch mean in economic terms
what does the phrase theres no such thing as free lunch mean in economic terms
opportunity cost
opportunity cost