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Villages that gained a reputation for producing really good wine, olive oil or ceramics discovered that it was worth their while to specialise nearly exclusively in that product and trade it with other settlements for all the other goods they needed. This made a lot of sense. Climates and soils differ, so why drink mediocre wine from your backyard if you can buy a smoother variety from a place whose soil and climate is much better suited to grape vines? If the clay in your backyard makes stronger and prettier pots, then you can make an exchange. Furthermore, full-time specialist vintners and potters, not to mention doctors and lawyers, can hone their expertise to the benefit of all. But specialisation created a problem - how do you manage the exchange of goods between the specialists?

So specialisation and free trade mean more goods and lower costs. And lower costs mean lower price tags. China has the planes it needs to satisfy the wanderlust of its increasingly prosperous population and Lauren Miller saves money by buying a Chinese radio at Walmart. As a consequence she has more to spend on other items, such as taking her kids to the bowling alley at the weekend.