Allowing non-competes or forbidding them is zero-sum when it comes to how free the market is because of them. People have taken a mechanism for pricing goods i

Allowing non-competes or forbidding them is zero-sum when it comes to how free the market is because of them. People have taken a mechanism for pricing goods in an economy and perverted it into some aspirational metric for economic correctness. So people on both sides try of an argument try to claim their idea is more "free market." Non-compete enforcement is largely pro- or anti-labor, but even that is a little disingenuous because non-competes also prevent companies from hiring labor with specific expertise. Whether they are enforced or not, the labor market will gradually shift to accommodate either position. If the market can adjust prices in response to some event, then it is a free market.