Economics plays a role in all societies, both developed and undeveloped. Even during the beginning of our time, goods have been produced, and even traded. Thus to understand a simple economy, consider the following scenario: there are two people who each live on an isolated island. James is one person, and Michelle is the other. In order to survive, each person must produce and consume potatoes or chickens. Both persons may produce any combination limited to their resources.
Within each economy, there are opportunity cost, what you must give up in order to get (Krugan, Wells, 2009, ...