Free Trade

1. What is a free market?

2. Why did economist Milton Friedman travel to Hong Kong in 1980?

3. How was Hong Kong able to prosper despite its lack of natural resources?

4. Why was Hong Kong allowed economic freedom after World War II even though China became a communist country?

5. Besides material wealth, on what other quality of life measures did Hong Kong match Western countries by 1980?

6. What did Milton Friedman mean by an “atmosphere of incentive”?

7. GDP per capita is just a number. Why should we care if it increases? How does it affect the life of the average person?

8. Why has much of the world tried to follow Hong Kong’s example?

9. Why might some people see a free market economy as dog-eat-dog?  Why didn’t  Friedman see it this way?

10. What is voluntary association?

11. How do prices influence people’s actions?

12. If more people purchase tomatoes at their current price, how does that influence Ng Choi’s pricing decision?

13. How does the production of a pencil illustrate the “invisible hand” of the market?