I thoroughly enjoyed your analysis of Per L. Bylund's chapters in his literature. In your analysis of chapter one, "The How of the Market," in his book "The Seen, The Unseen, and the Unrealized," I like how you explained and mentioned the point of how capitalism affects or rather has the potential to cause problems and flaws in the market system. I agree that with capitalism problems and tensions may begin to rise as it can bring about economic, social, or political problems but can also bring on inequality instability issues as well. I also really liked how you mentioned that there is so much more to the market than the typical exchange between people. As I was reading the book, chapter one, I felt that the idea of "exchange" was prioritized a lot in this chapter. It is interesting to see your point of view when you said,Hello @noelanichalmers!
There is so much more to the market; it is not simply the exchange of things we already have with others we happen to cross paths. It goes much deeper, it comes down to the law, cost production, approval of consumers, economic cost, and so much more. It is also emphasized that to get into a situation where a certain transaction is possible, one will first need to make other exchanges or engage in production (Chalmers, 2023).
I agree with your statement that the market goes beyond what we know and what the books mentions because when it comes to the market, we also to keep in mind the economy. Looking deeper into these two terms we start getting into the laws, cost production, approval of consumers, economic cost, etc. as you have mentioned in your essay.
In reading chapter one, "What Economics Is," and in the literature, "In How to Think About the Economy," I, too, think the economy is much more than resources, machines, businesses, etc. In what I interpreted from this chapter, is that as humans, we have needs, wants, and desires that we want fulfilled or satisfies, yet cannot always be satisfies due to scarce resources and inability to obtain more. As you have mentioned and as it was mentioned in the literature, it really is about "using means to attain end." But to help satisfy human desires is when entrepreneurs come in to implement and take on businesses and ideas to better help the scarcity of resources as Bylund talks about in this reading.
In chapter two, we can then add on to what economics is by bring in the idea and mention of economic theory as mentioned in this chapter. As humans, the things we value most are ones that we strive to obtain or have already and with that comes effort, action and work. I like how you relate this concept to the world and how in order to see change in the world, we first have to take action because if not action is done, nothing gets done.
Lastly, in chapter four, "A Process, Not a Factory," we can see points point of the economy and how focusing on the aspects it take to get there is more important than the end result. In other words we must focus on the process more than than outcomes. I like that you inserted some remarks from Bylund in this part to prioritize the point that understanding the complexity and coordination of these processes is crucial to understanding the economy as a whole. In the economy, we must remember that the end result is great but if we slow down and take a deeper look into the process in how things are made, why they are made, how they come about, the pricing, etc. then we can fully understand the market and in return the economy as well.