Controversy: Does the Free Market Undermine Culture?(Essay‪)‬

Introduction Economics can be defined in a number of ways. The standard textbook definition is that economics is the study of the allocation of society's scarce resources. In conversation, economists often focus on the "economic way of thinking"--a rigorous analysis of the costs and benefits of personal decisions and public policies. And as a member of the social sciences, economics is also a study of human behavior, particularly in the context of markets. As such, the discipline of economics studies how actions vary in response to changes in prices, laws, and other factors. The concept of "markets" can range from the standard inputs and outputs of production (e.g., labor and the proverbial widget) to a wide array of other areas (e.g., political market transactions, dating and marriage, the market for vital organs, and decisions concerning sin and virtue).