I feel like every time I have a conversation with someone who believes in free markets, it becomes clear that they've confused the ideas of free markets and per

I feel like every time I have a conversation with someone who believes in free markets, it becomes clear that they've confused the ideas of free markets and perfect competition. That somehow a lack of regulations is fair because it allows markets to adjust to supply and demand and come to an equilibrium. And modern economists who use actor-based simulations have shown that unregulated markets are typically not "perfect markets". But the reality is that a market with a monopolist does not do this. In fact, the closer you get to a pure monopoly, the more a price will approach one where consumers get none of the economic surplus and there is a large economic dead-weight loss. Unsurprisingly, the tech giants who are monopolists talk a lot about "free markets" in this way. But people who work in tech should probably refrain from using this term so that we can get rid of these superstitions.