Origin of the Free Market

The Pioneer

     Humanity's Great Inventions:  No one knows who invented the wheel that moves carts and machines, but we know who invented the wheel that drives the economy.  It was Marco Licinio Craso, born 115 years before Christ.

     He discovered that the market depends on the push and pull of supply and demand for goods and services.

     To put this economic law into practice, he founded a company in Rome.

     Thus was born the first private firefighting firm.

     It was a great success.

     Don Marco set fires, then charged to put them out.

                             -----Eduardo Galeano, Voices of Time