I see this a lot and it really screws up discussions of economics and policy. A free market is not a good or bad thing per se. A free market just means that competition is not restricted and prices are not set by law. This arrangement can result in good or bad outcomes. An *efficient* and *highly competitive* free market is usually a good thing. A free market characterized by oligopoly or monopoly is usually a bad thing. Just saying free market doesnt imply anything about the outcomes. What we want are competitive markets. Whether they are more or less free is not as important. One usually, but doesnt always imply the other. Like this: a free market is where everybody is free to screw everybody without the government interfering. If there is no competition around to screw, then you, the consumer, are next in line. You need a lot of competition to absorb all the screwing. In monopolies the consumer gets 100% of the screwing, which is why we try to ban them.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 23:49:21 +0000