“The free market will solve everything” is a seductive idea because of its simplicity. “Just let the free market solve it. Oh, there’s a problem? It’s because t

“The free market will solve everything” is a seductive idea because of its simplicity. “Just let the free market solve it. Oh, there’s a problem? It’s because the market is not ‘free’ enough.” The reality is more complicated. We need a balance of a healthy market forces and regulations to prevent the exploitation of people and the environment. But that’s a lot of work, and not as elegant sounding of a solution as, “let the market figure it out.”