Is the market a place？ Or a thing？ Neither， really. It’s a concept. If you are growing tomatoes in your backyard for sale， you are producing for the market. You might sell some to your neighbor and some in your little stand by the roadside and some to the manager of the local supermarket. But in either case， you are producing for the market. Your efforts are being directed by the market. If people stop buying tomatoes， you will stop producing them. If you mow lawns to earn money， you are producing a service for the market. If your father a steelworker or a bricklayer or a truck driver or a dentist or a grocer， he is producing goods or services for the market.

　　市场是一个地方吗？是一样东西吗？都不是，真的。市场是一个概念。如果你在自家的后院种番茄出售，你是在给市场提供产品。你可以将一些蔬菜卖给邻居，将一些蔬菜摆在路边的小摊上出售，将一些蔬菜卖给当地超级市场的经理，在任何一种情况下，你都是在给市场提供产品。你的努力都是在市场的引导下作出的。如果人们不买你的番茄，你就不会种番茄。如果你割草挣钱，你是在为市场提供劳务。如果你父亲是钢铁工人，或者是瓦匠，或者是卡车司机，或者是牙医，或者是开食品杂货店的，他也正在给市场提供商品或者劳务。

　　When you spend your income， you are buying things from the market. You may spend money in stores， supermarkets， gas stations， and restaurants. Still you are buying from the market. When the local grocer hires you to drive the delivery truck， he is buying your labor in the labor market.

　　当你花钱时，你是在市场上购买东西。你可以在商店、超级市场、气站和餐馆花钱，你还是在市场上购买东西。当本地的杂货店雇你开送货车，他是在劳动力市场上购买你的劳动。

　　The market may seem to be a fuzzy sort of thing. But for each person（or business） who is making and selling something， it’s very real. If nobody buys your tomatoes， it won’t be long before you get the message. The market is telling you something. It’s telling you that you are using your energies and resources in doing something the market doesn’t want you to do.

　　市场似乎是一种含糊不清的东西，但是，对一个正在生产商品的人（或一家企业），它是实实在在的。如果谁也不买你的番茄，不需要很长时间你就会得到信息。市场在告诉你一些道理，他在对你说，你做事所花的精力和使用的资源是市场上所不需要的。