2 ms·

It doesn't need to be a purely free market. I'm very much a proponent of free markets but there's also a need for some amount of thoughtful regulation. Allowi

It doesn't need to be a purely free market. I'm very much a proponent of free markets but there's also a need for some amount of thoughtful regulation. Allowing market participants to discharge toxins into the local water supply is not in society's interests but is quite possible in a purely free-market system. There's now a good amount of evidence that a hybrid system: mostly free-market, with some regulation, and some kind of social safety net is the least-bad choice.

WalterBright 4y ago
> Allowing market participants to discharge toxins into the local water supply is not in society's interests but is quite possible in a purely free-market system. A pure free market system would not allow people to pollute other peoples' property.
- AlexandrB 4y ago
  How do you define property rights for air and water? If I own a section of a stream and I dump my garbage into it, am I polluting my property or another's property? What if the consequences were unforeseen (as is often the case with groundwater contamination)? Edit: moreover how is "the free market" going to defend the property rights of others in these cases? I assume via civil litigation. But what if my victims can't afford prolonged litigation or I decide that the potential cost of a settlement is less than the cost of disposing of pollutants properly?
  - WalterBright 4y ago
    > If I own a section of a stream and I dump my garbage into it, am I polluting my property or another's property? You're polluting other peoples' property. > how is "the free market" going to defend the property rights of others in these cases? That's the proper role of government. > But what if my victims can't afford prolonged litigation or I decide that the potential cost of a settlement is less than the cost of disposing of pollutants properly? Such issues are true of any economic system I can think of.

WalterBright 4y ago

> Allowing market participants to discharge toxins into the local water supply is not in society's interests but is quite possible in a purely free-market system. A pure free market system would not allow people to pollute other peoples' property.

AlexandrB 4y ago
How do you define property rights for air and water? If I own a section of a stream and I dump my garbage into it, am I polluting my property or another's property? What if the consequences were unforeseen (as is often the case with groundwater contamination)? Edit: moreover how is "the free market" going to defend the property rights of others in these cases? I assume via civil litigation. But what if my victims can't afford prolonged litigation or I decide that the potential cost of a settlement is less than the cost of disposing of pollutants properly?
- WalterBright 4y ago
  > If I own a section of a stream and I dump my garbage into it, am I polluting my property or another's property? You're polluting other peoples' property. > how is "the free market" going to defend the property rights of others in these cases? That's the proper role of government. > But what if my victims can't afford prolonged litigation or I decide that the potential cost of a settlement is less than the cost of disposing of pollutants properly? Such issues are true of any economic system I can think of.