Mr. Burke is Jack's teacher. He is, as far as anyone can tell, a perfectly decent person. He is probably good at a lot of things. Business class is not one of them.

Mr. Burke spent three full weeks teaching "market economies." Three weeks. That's a long time. In those three weeks, he explained supply and demand, economic systems, and the broad forces that shape global commerce. What he did not explain: how to make a dollar. How to price something. What profit means. Any of it.

He is not a villain. He is not unkind. He represents something much more interesting than a bad guy — he represents the gap between what schools teach and what kids actually need to know. The Jack Squat series exists because of Mr. Burke. In a way, he's the reason for everything.