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Free markets, in the original Smithian definition, require extensive government influence to keep the market free for new participants to enter and make opportu
by uoaei 3y ago
Free markets, in the original Smithian definition, require extensive government influence to keep the market free for new participants to enter and make opportunities for themselves. This means quashing bad actors including monopolists and other actors who seek to distort the market in drastic ways.
- flagrant_taco 3y agoFree markets don't require any intervention, we choose to modify the model and have a free-ish market because we ultimately don't trust those invoked long term. That isn't the conceptual design though, ideally a free market handles monopolies on its own when customers simply walk away from the bad actor.
- uoaei 3y agoMaybe you're just choosing not to read my comment and steamroll what I said. I can't tell. Adam Smith, the guy who defined the term "free market", defined it as I described, not as you have attempted to retcon.
- flagrant_taco 3y agoI'm not trying to steamroll you, I just disagree. I can't find a source defining free markets as requiring government intervention, I'd be really curious to e one of you have it. Adam Smith didn't think government intervention was necessary, as best I recall. He described what he called the invisible hand, but that is the natural market forces of self-interested parties not government control. I copy/paste a quote from Investopedia right now for some reason, but Smith described his opinion of the tiles of government and it specifically didn't include controlling the free market https://www.investopedia.com/updates/adam-smith-wealth-of-nations/ https://www.investopedia.com/updates/adam-smith-wealth-of-na...