Let's actually let the Free Market work... for once!

Tweet

Here in the US we talk about our free market economy. Some people talk about it in positive ways while others can't seem to find anything good about it. The problem is, we have never really let the free market work in our economy. Free Market is where everyone is free to market their goods and services as they see fit. When has that ever been the economic policy of the US, or any individual state? Instead of Free Market, we have had a pendullum swing between government protection of business owners and government protection of consumers. While there is nothing about Free Market Capitalism that precludes laws or government regulation, it does preclude protectionism. Our government passes laws that actually make fair competition illegal. Because of influence peddling and corruption, law makers will work to get bills past that make it impossible to compete with their buddy's business. On the other end of the pendullum swing, we have laws that require business to engage in unethical and unwise practices. The best example would be the laws requiring financial institutions to make loans with people who can't pay them back. Yes, they helped some people become proud homeowners, but they also drove the price of housing through the roof. There is also the points where the government has moved from mere regulation and lawmaking to actually controlling the market. An example of this would be the labor market. Free Market is where everyone is free to market their goods and services as they see fit. Most people seem to think that this only applies to employers, however, that is not true. When you enter the job market, you are literally putting the goods and services of your skills, education, experience and property on the market. Employers are the market for what you are offering. People complain about low wages and bad benefits packages. Why are wages and benefits packages so low? Because WE sell ourselves short, and because the government has skewed the market in favor of the consumer. Yes, there is a huge roll for the government to play here. Enforcing laws against assault and battery, slavery, abuse and other things are already on the books. All the positive aspects of "protectionist" laws are pretty much redundancies to existing laws. All the negatives just hurt the economy. Name one example of the abuses that lead to the rise of labor unions and the FDA that wasn't already breaking existing laws. You can't. The abuses made famous by Upton Sinclair in "The Jungle" were all examples of criminal acts. From petty theft to 1st degree murder and everythign in between. So why did they lead to all these government agencies and bureaucracies? Because enforcing existing laws isn't what makes government officials more powerful. Before we scrap the concept of Free Market Capitalism, let's at least give it a real shot. After all, it is the only system based solely on individual freedom and rights.