13-1a3a1a Everyone benefits a psychic profit at the time of exchange (ex ante), but not everyone will benefit from the exchange (ex post)

“It is convenient to distinguish the two vantage points by which an actor judges his action as ex ante and ex post. Ex ante, then, he will always take the most advantageous course of action, and will always have a psychic profit, with revenue exceeding cost. Ex post, he may have profited or lost from a course of action. It is clear that his ex post judgments are mainly useful to him in the weighing of his ex ante considerations for future action.”

Next:

• 13-1a3a1b All errors will be subjective without money

Related:

• 13-1a2 The omnipresence of uncertainty introduces the ever-present possibility of error in human action