The Coase Theorem is a tautology, but as tautologies go, it’s an inspiration.  Once upon a time, it inspired me to say, “Coasean reasoning only holds perfectly with zero transactions costs. But the Coasean insight that creative bargaining is a very good way to resolve conflict holds even when transactions costs are substantial.”  But a much more quotable version appears in the show Dirty Sexy Money (Episode 1-8, “The Country House”)

Well, I think that life is very creative and surprising, and sometimes we find solutions where we thought there weren’t any.

Never mind that this is part of a lawyer’s effort to work out a modus vivendi between a philandering politician, his wife, and his transgendered lover.  It’s still fortune cookie to live by.