Teachers in a Market Economy

Maria joins the Peace Corps after graduation from college and pursues her passion for teaching in the developing world. While on this assignment Maria is shocked by the levels of abject poverty presented in many places in the world. This chapter introduces the basics of a market economy. It explains how wealth is created and how it generally has very little to do with natural resources. The concepts of market, prices, property rights, voluntary exchange, and the profit motive are explained. Maria’s eyes are opened to the possibility that these characteristics of economic freedom are what lead nations towards prosperity.