Introduction

Expectations matter. They are regarded as the basis for economic decision-making—and thus as key to understanding economic behavior and macroeconomic outcomes. Expectations, economists and social scientists agree, drive economic activity. “Isn’t all of Economics about expectations?” asked a group of economists recently (Bachmann, Topa, and Klaauw 2023, xxv). Indeed, expectations have become a central focus of economics and an important topic in the social sciences more generally.