Voting machine, weighing machine
Published
1 September 2026
“In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine.”
Why it stays with me
This line comes to us through Warren Buffett, who often credits it to his teacher Benjamin Graham. It’s one of the clearest explanations of why prices and value are not the same thing.
In the short run, a price reflects what people feel: excitement, fear, headlines and popularity. Over longer periods, it tends to be pulled back towards what a business actually earns. The vote is loud. The scale is patient.
I think the idea reaches beyond markets. Attention is a vote, and it moves fast. Real quality is weighed slowly. It’s a good reason not to judge an idea, a project or a person by how popular they are this week.
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