Free Markets and Greed!

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Free Markets, capitalism, is getting a bad name. Main stream America, not just the far right, defines "free markets" as an economy that is void of any government interference, including the task of assuring that our markets are indeed free. There is little concern that many markets controlled by private entities have the ability to set the price, quality and quantity of items produced and they have a heavy influence on what suppliers can charge, including the cost of labor.

The Right has done an excellent job of equating the government playing the referee within industries versus government invoking and implementing regulations that cause an industry to be inefficient and wasteful. The left has assisted in demonizing government over-regulation by passing laws that cost more than the benefits received.

The government has a legitimate role to assure free markets are free. For decades, politicians from both the right and left have abdicated this role. A current example of this is allowing banks to get too big to fail. Romney's view of free markets is the same. When Romney was in Detroit this year campaigning he said of the Chinese, "They are good competitors, and like all good competitors, will take every advantage they can get. As long as we allow it, they will continue doing so."

A market is no less free controlled by an oligopoly than if it were controlled by government. More:  http://www.freeourfreemarkets.org/2010/12/too-big-to-succeed.html

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