Once upon a time there were two boys named Ed and Ned. This story is a fairy tale, but one in which most people already know all of the facts. "Ed was an eight-year-old who lived in a small town with his parents not far from the state capital. Ed’s father was a smart lawyer. He knew most people in the town were poor, so he built a gym set that all the kids in the town could play on. It was such a good gym set and both it and Ed became so popular that he decided to start charging each person twenty-five cents a day to play on it. Ed became rich and even started making more money than his father.Soon, a new boy named Ned moved to town. He was six years old. Ned’s dad could only mow lawns and do odd jobs around town. Ned liked the gym set and one day had an idea. He figured that the kids playing on the gym set would get thirsty, so each day he went to the grocery store and bought a six pack of Fizz Cola and set up a stand in front of his house. Most kids bought a glass of Fizz Cola each day they played on the gym set. Now, Ned was making more money than Ed and both their dads.Ed couldn’t stand another kid coming into town and making more money than him. Ed and his dad came up with a plan to triple the cost to play on the gym set to seventy-five cents and add a glass of Bubble Cola for each kid each day. Now, every person has to pay more but they get a refreshment too. Ed and his dad wondered if the kids would go for the deal. They thought seventy-five cents might be too much to pay to play each day. So, they said they were raising prices, but the glass of Bubble Cola is free. Now, no one wants to buy Fizz Cola from Ned, because they have to buy the glass of Bubble Cola if they want to play on the gym set. Ned tries to convince some kids that Fizz Cola is better than Bubble Cola and some kids even prefer Fizz Cola over Bubble Cola. Since they have to buy a glass of Bubble Cola, Ned can no longer sell hi...
