Do we really have a free market?

I hear it said so often, the reason that makes America and capitalism so great is our free-market economy.

But hold the phone.

Too big to fail? Bail-outs?

If we lived in a free market, wouldn't those two things cease to exist?

I'm asking an honest question - not attempting to be a dick.

I personally don't think we live in a free-market as much as we live in a democracy, versus a plutocracy or oligarchy.

I could ask five people and receive five different answers - it is simply something I don't understand.

If we truly have a free-market, wouldn't that prevent such measures as bailouts? The company/bank/etc would collapse, yes?

a reply to: RomeByFire

In a "free-market", the government is just another commodity to buy, just another asset to secure. There can't be a "free-market", because as long as there is a market, there will always be monopolies at some point or another.

a reply to: gosseyn

Well playing naively here and assuming that the government can't be bought - as many believe - how would it operate in that a free market enables the bailing out without the consent of those bailing out, for the reasoning of "too big to fail?"

I see many people defending capitalism and our "free market," and I don't see why.

originally posted by: RomeByFire

I personally don't think we live in a free-market as much as we live in a democracy, versus a plutocracy or oligarchy.
If we truly have a free-market, wouldn't that prevent such measures as bailouts? The company/bank/etc would collapse, yes?

Yes, there is a free market. It is called "the Dark Net"
and it has been made possible by the technology of
TOR and Bitcoin.

Bitcoin's developer Satoshi Nakamoto has in the past explained some of the advantages of the digital currency: "The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust…Bitcoin’s solution is to use a peer-to-peer network to check for double-spending…the result is a distributed system with no single point of failure."

If you’re one of those people that live in fear that a government might do something to debase the value of the currency in which you’re paid—by printing new money, or defaulting on debt, or igniting inflation—then Bitcoin offers shelter in the storm. Yes, modern central banks conjure new money out of thin air. And, yes, inflation has eroded the value of the dollar over time. You’d need $23 in today’s dollars to purchase the same amount of goods and services that $1 could get you in 1913. While dollars lose value over time, Bitcoin will continue to increase in value because it has a limited supply.

The main appeal of Bitcoin is that there is no central authority governing nor manipulating it. It operates across borders and across political divides. It does not need to be printed and no one needs to guard it because it is collectively built, collectively maintained and transactions are monitored across the entire Bitcoin world. The lack of a central authority reduces any faction of politics from seeping onto the true exchange of goods and services. The currency is a true free market tool of commerce and not a tool of politics and ideology.

This FREE MARKET is made possible by the confluence of technology and advances in mathematics which make a TRUSTLESS system possible and removed the need for any middle-man like a bank or government. How does a paperless currency that has no central authority and no enforcement body prevent fraud while allowing anonymity? Simple, it uses advanced cryptography.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the digital currency being plastered all over the internet these days. Several major media outlets have covered this developing currency, but they aren’t explaining its fundamentals nor practicality properly. In fact, most mainstream media outlets are deeming the digital currency as somewhat of a joke – a fad if you will. I can assure you though, Bitcoin is no joke, and it has made early adopters fortunes in recent years.

Bitcoin, in my opinion, is a compelling example of free market innovation and if adopted on a large scale, could open up markets to entrepreneurs like never before. Simply put, since 2009 there has been no asset class on the planet which has increased in value more than Bitcoin.

- Bitcoin Prevents Monetary Tyranny
- Bitcoin Will End The Nation State

a reply to: RomeByFire

Do we really have a free market??

Nope, not by a long shot. But, of course, you knew that already.

So I will just add that any market that forces the purchase of a product... or denies the ability to purchase/possess a product... or that sets regulations that give some businesses special privileges over other businesses... is not a free market.

On the plus side, during the 2008 election, it was easier to find a needle in a haystack than to find a conservative/Republican that would admit to the gross crony capitalism that has destroyed the free market.. but that has slowly but surely been changing, as more and more people are adversely affected by our corrupted economy (and congress critters).

There is still hope for our economic ship to be righted...

How can you have a free market without supply and demand?

Speculation is the current MO; With corrupt insider trading.

The conservative Right wink likes to pretend that we still live in a "Mayberry RFD" economic system...they're wrong.

www.forbes.com...

That's because a free market economy coupled with capitalism (where more money is concentrated among fewer people) eventually leads to an oligarchy.