Professional guidance is a practical strategy for individuals to navigate hidden markets and deal with complex rules, such as those found in tax systems or legal processes.

“You know, the obvious one is you hire somebody who understands the rules, right? You just put somebody else in there and say, "I'm going to rely on you to understand the rules."”

A hidden market exists when prices are not allowed to adjust to market-clearing levels, resulting in excess demand that must be managed by other allocation rules.

“So essentially anytime price isn't going to adjust to decide who gets what, you end up with what economists call excess demand.”