[quote=zk]For just one instance, the free market. The free market is a powerful force. But if you let it run rampant without any oversight or regulation, there would be too much manipulation, deceit, power grabbing, monopolization, and outright thievery[/quote]
Suggest you adjust your definition of a “free market”
Most think a free market is one where participants are free to do whatever they want. This is incorrect.
A free market is one in which participants are free from others infringing upon their rights. Theft, for example, is not allowed in a free market.
A free market is not an unregulated market.
Yes, there are regulations in a free market. They are necessary to keep the market free.
However, the regulations are not in place to direct the market towards a result. The regulations in a free market are there to ensure the transactions that take place are legal, voluntary and devoid of rights violations.
A “free market” in this sense is the most efficient way to allocate funds. When you try to regulate a market with a purpose other than keeping the transactions “clean” is when you lose efficiency.
A “free market” such as the one you describe – where there is no regulation at all – is not efficient. A market where nobody is tracking titles and ensuring all transactions are voluntary and punishing those who breach contracts is not free and not efficient. But, when people who understand “free markets” talk about “free markets” this is not what they mean.
Keeping all that in mind, I think a party as you describe could do well as long as it educated people on what a free market really is.
I think alot of people hear Ron Paul talk about the free market and they immediately think he is going to be all about supporting big corporations but I don’t see it that way at all.
He understands that big government = big business. The more money the gov has at their disposal, the more big business will lobby to win contract funds and lobby to influence regulations to steer markets to their favor. And the corps grow more powerful because they can lobby and bribe more successfully than the little guy. The liberals love big government but hate big business. Sadly, they don’t realize that increasing gov power directly results in more powerful corporations.
