Marketism

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About

Free-marketism is a belief in the general superiority of solutions based on free-as-in-unregulated market principles. It is usually accompanied by a belief in strong property rights, with enforcement of such rights being one of the few (if any) legitimate functions of government.

A society based on free-marketist principles would be a form of minarchy, but there are no known examples of any such society that is both highly technological and successful at either creating significant wealth or maintaining human rights.

Usage

Claims

Claims frequently made by free marketeers include:

  • Economic inequality is, has always been, and will always be with us; attempts to fight poverty have never worked.
    • This is fair because people are not equal in their efforts and, therefore, people will not be equal in their rewards.
  • The fact that most people now have cell phones proves that the free market works to provide equality.
    • This is often claimed by the same people who will freely admit we don't have a free market right now.
  • Only government regulation can cause monopolies.
    • More generally, excessive private power only exists because it is able to exploit excessive government power.
      • Implication: all excessive power is created by government.
  • It is the government's fault that its regulatory power is abused [W] by powerful interests. (If that power didn't exist, then it couldn't be abused.)

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