When i was about 11 or 12, a man asked me to clean up in the morning after all the stuff on the ground and put in the incinerator. He offered me 50 cents for my work - but he said it was worth at least 75. I just learned a lot just from that one job. The whole idea that i need to think about what i can tribute to the world if i want to be compensated is not natural. We tend to think a work as an entitlement, as a wage, is a question of justice.
Economist and author David Henderson talks about his book (co-authored with Steve Globerman) The Essential UCLA School of Economics with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Much of the conversation focuses on the work of Armen Alchian and Harold Demsetz, who both saw economics as a powerful tool for understanding human behavior and how the world works.