A preface to prices
This section concerns how prices are set by individuals engaged in voluntary exchange, like one person buying a used car from another or people buying and selling corn in a futures market. First, though, I feel the need to remark that most prices are not just set by buyers and sellers, but are influenced by government policies. Such policies include minimum wages, taxes, and various regulations like housing codes. This is nothing new. Even the first democracy in ancient Athens would set the price of figs by a democratic vote.
