Book chapter
What’s Private About the Free Market?
Mother of Invention
29 Nov 2013
Abstract
The term “free-market” is widely used to connote private commerce that is free of government intervention, yet in reality, such markets do not exist. Almost every major industry depends on some form of government support. Four examples in the general economy are information technology, which relies on the Internet; automobile manufacturing, which relies on Interstate highways; telecommunications, which relies on satellites; and homebuilding, which relies on federal mortgage support. Even the most ardent supporters of markets dating back to Adam Smith acknowledge thegovernment’s key role in maintaining them.Public programs do not always produce optimal results, and they are often captured by the industries they are intended to support and oversee. However, without them,few, if any, private industries could exist.In no sector of the economy does this dynamic play out more pervasively than in health care.
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Details
- Title
- What’s Private About the Free Market?
- Creators
- Robert I Field
- Publication Details
- Mother of Invention
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Thomas R. Kline School of Law
- Other Identifier
- 991019298999304721