Economics: A Very Short Introduction describes the lives of two children who live very different lives in different parts of the world: in the Mid-West USA and in Ethiopia. It compares the obstacles facing them, and the processes that shape their lives, their families, and their futures. This VSI shows how economics uncovers these processes, finds explanations for them, and how it forms policies and solutions, along the way providing an intelligent and accessible introduction to key economic factors and concepts such as: individual choices, national policies, efficiency, equity, development, sustainability, dynamic equilibrium, property rights, markets, and public goods.