Mr. Monday, The Ice Cream Man

Are monopolies bad? If so, why? If not, why not? These are questions that are difficult to answer unless we possess a proper understanding of how economies work.In Mr. Monday, The Ice Cream Man: A Story for Young Economists Seeking to Understand Monopolies, Lee Bailiff has written a simple story with a complicated theme. Should Mr. Monday be the only ice cream seller in Happy Woods, or should Mr. Jolly be permitted to compete with him? How much choice should the children have? How much involvement should the Town Council have? What role should the parents play?And, in all of these questions, there exists a more important one woven underneath: why?Economics helps us all understand why things happen the way they do in the marketplace and Lee Bailiff helps his readers understand economics.No matter what your educational goals or situations, whether you are home schooling your children or being home schooled, or whether you are in public schools - or even attending a university and undertaking your first economics course, this book and the others that will be published in this Young Economists series will help clarify difficult topics and make the often intimidating subject of economics more approachable.The story is divided into six parts. After each part, there are a number of review questions parents may go over with their children or teachers may go over with their students. The goal of these questions is to focus the mind of the reader on what the problems are that the characters are facing and what the possible solutions these problems may be.