The theory of "pseudo wealth" - developed by Nobel laureate Joe Stiglitz and others - riffs off the idea people's consumption is altered by assumptions about future gains or even losses in investments or asset bets. But unlike other economic models that fall back on mysterious animal spirits or wealth effects for unfathomable ebbs and flows, this contends that there is no shared feeling or common rationale - but differing beliefs about the future that spur asset price speculation as they diverge.