Let's also review money, briefly:
Money is an object that serves as a medium
of exchange in a wide range of transactions
of goods and services (including labor).
Though it is very familiar, and seems to be
common sense, money has certain properties:
(a) Money is also a standard of value (value
of things can be compared through standard
measure).
(b) Money is a store of value (a medium used
to acquire a range of goods).
(c) Money has symbolic significance (e.g.
how much individuals are worth).
(d) The supply of money must be controllable
in order to preserve its value.
Two more points that are important about money:
Most money is portable and can be carried
or worn.
Because money can be invested, it can reproduce
itself (e.g.
Them that has, gets).
Different objects have served as money
We've discussed iron bridewealth currency
from Central Africa above.
One of the more unusual forms of money is
the stone money on the Island of Yap in Indonesia
Market economies function through market principles:
Almost all privately owned goods and services
have a monetary price and can be bought and
sold on the free market.
Most adults make their living by selling something
on the market, such as labor, goods, or services.
Natural resources, capital (including technology
and equipment), and labor are allocated by
the market, determined by supply and demand.
Market economies are self-regulating through
impersonal forces of supply and demand.
Market globalization (or global capitalism)
is when capital, technology, products, and
services cross national boundaries at prices
largely determined by global supply and demand.
In a global economy economic national autonomy
is difficult to achieve because of the complexity
of globalized production (e.g. Global Motors
or 
Apples and Foxconn).
"Losers" and "Winners" are debated based on
costs and benefits (e.g. inexpensive Chinese
toys with lead contamination or difficult
working conditions in factories).
