You'd be surprised. I found a good introduction to this ideal in the book "The Undercover Economist":

http://www.amazon.com/Undercover-Economist-Exposing-Poor---D...

The Undercover Economist is quite a fun read and very accessible to the layperson: http://www.amazon.com/Undercover-Economist-Exposing-Poor-Dec...

This is a chapter in The Undercover Economist, a book that I just finished reading last week: http://www.amazon.com/Undercover-Economist-Exposing-Poor-Dec...

It's a great introductory economics book for the layman.