Market economy is understood as the organization and allocation of the production and consumption of goods and services arising from the interplay between supply and demand. The characteristic that defines the importance of the market economy is that decisions about investment and the allocation of production goods are made mainly through markets.
In a market economy, producers and consumers can interact in the market. It is assumed that both types of economic agents assume the price of the goods as a given data (that is, they are "price acceptors" - "preneurs de prix" in French, "price takers" in English.- See Origin and assumptions in "Law of Walras".) And, from there, they make their production and consumption decisions, seeking to maximize the gain in the case of the bidders and the utility function (satisfaction) in the case of consumers. The participation of these actors, offering and demanding quantities of goods and services, in turn alters market conditions affecting the evolution of prices.
Yes and no. But mostly yes.
The Mayans impressively developed a concept of zero as a number and as a placeholder. They did so in the 4th century AD, and what makes it especially impressive is that they more or less did so on their own, without borrowing from or exchanging ideas with other civilizations.
However, unlike ancient India, who developed the concept of zero around the same time, the Maya never applied to to mathematical calculations, using it mostly as a placeholder and a concept in their complex calenders.
Zero really becomes a powerful force in science and math when you begin applying the concept to equations. A number times zero is zero, a number divided by zero can't exist but theoretically is infinite, etc. Although the Mayans never applied zero to their impressive advancements in geometry, construction, etc, they did invent the concept essentially from scratch, which is an impressive feat that few other societies accomplished in the ancient world.
Spirits helped build America in two ways: financially and early on in health ways. When this country was first settled, the drinking water was often contaminated. Sewer systems did not exist, and human waste was commonly dumped into the streets, waiting for the rain to carry it away, often to the water source. Many people became sick from drinking untreated water, and through trial and error, our founding fathers found that applying alcohol to the water decreased the deaths that they could not define. It was good common practice in the early days to treat whatever liquid your were drinking with a little rum which was a common liquor at the time. All of those<span> blossomed into a multi-billion dollar industry.</span>