The Pros And Cons Of A Free Market

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"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men, will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone."- John Maynard Keynes

In today’s society, reverting back to a free market would be disastrous. What we have in the United States today is a mixed economy. A mixed economy is an economy that is influenced by both private enterprise and the state. The economy has prospects of a market economy and a planned economy. A market economy is an economic system in which prices of goods and services are guided by private business and individuals and has little government intervention. A planned economy is owned by the public and planned for and by the citizens. A free market is when businesses are self regulating and without …show more content…

In a pure free market there would be no social net to protect middle and working class people. In an unregulated market there would be extreme inequality. There is regulation in the United States, but most businesses are run privately. However, in recent times of the country there has been a political movement to get rid of these regulations as a means to get rid of unemployment. Even if unemployment was resolved, how long would that last and would the lives of the worker’s be better off? Their wages would be low, the worker conditions would be horrendous. And even when the government intervenes into a market, they still fail. It is the nature of markets to go into cycles of growth and recession. Keynes quote does bring up doubts about the market, are we better off letting the most wealthy control the economy or should it be democratically owned by the people? While a mixed economy, an economy that is influenced by both private enterprise and the state, may seem like a great solution to a pure free market, it is simply a band aid on an unsavable system. The free market does not exist because the state does intervene at times. However, because markets are so inefficient, better solution to