Supply & Demand
A topic within Microeconomics, itself one of 12 topics in that field and part of Economics.
Reading for Microeconomics
2Start here
No prior grounding assumed.
- EssayI, PencilLeonard Read, 1958· ≈2,500 words
No single person knows how to make a pencil, which is the clearest available illustration of distributed coordination.
Then
Assumes you know the vocabulary.
- PaperThe Market for LemonsGeorge Akerlof, 1970· 13 pages
Asymmetric information can collapse a market entirely, even when mutually beneficial trades exist.