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Hello, My name is Kyle Wilcox. I'm from Indianapolis, Indiana. This is my answer to the Make Me Smart Question: What's something you thought you knew, but later found out you were wrong about? I used to think there was free food. As a kid I just showed up to church events, school events, and family gatherings and I ate the food. I didn't think about it. The illusion of free food is an even bigger deal when you get to college because you're either eating in the cafeteria or you're scrounging for free food. Over the years I looked back and realized that the food wasn't free after all. My grandma and other family members planned the Thanksgiving dinner. The little old ladies in my church spent hours the night before making food for the church picnic. Not only did they spend money at the grocery store, but they spent their time and love on that food. In short, making food requires input. In fact, everything requires input. That's why input is my favorite word. ...

Free market doesn't mean I am free to do whatever I want. It doesn't mean that companies can spew pollution everywhere. It doesn't mean a business can sell a flawed and dangerous product and get away with. The freedom is in the market transaction . Each party freely chooses to purchase or sell a product.  There is no coercion or manipulation. All the terms of the transaction and products are fully disclosed before it's agreed upon. Both parties are better off after the transaction than they previously were. We call this gains from trade. You would only be willing to make the trade if it was economically beneficial to you. Most of the time, we just trade money in the form of a purchase because money makes it easier for everyone involved. There are real gains to be made from every purchase. However, it's important to remember that just making more purchases, doesn't actually produce any new goods or services. If you gave 10 kids 10 different toys, most or al...