[henry quirk]

mebbe in their lil orwellian worlds a free market isn't actually free

mebbe, in their neighborhood, 'free' means 'managed'

if so: they have my sympathy (I, as an austrian, have sympathy for all keynesians: johnny has them flummoxed)

in the world I live in: a free market is where I want X, X is available, I shop 'round till I find X at a price I can tolerate, I buy X

in the world I live in: a free market is where I have/make X, I offer X to customers at a price I can tolerate, I sell x

supply & demand, not 'fairness', rules

bad players (folks who cheat the customer, always an exercise in failing to live up to the terms of implicit or explicit voluntary contract) largely get punished through loss of profit

in egregious cases such bad players lose their livelihood and/or their freedom

this, of course, requires independent arbitration

mostly though, the market itself (customers, actual & potential) punishes the nogoodniks, or it would if folks were left alone to rebalance their individual scales

of course, a free market only operates when folks are free to transact, and -- sorry to say -- free to get bilked

if, instead of adressing breach of contract after the fact (individually) by way of a court of last resort, folks choose to cocoon themselves in prophylactica (protections against & and in advance of bilking) a free market becomes sumthin' other than 'free'

this is fine, if that's what folks want, but this managed market is not free and the competitive forces therein are managed (by someone other than those transacting)

so: what certain folks here argue for is managed markets, managed competition

their real beef is: the system of management is bein' circumvented

in essence: they're miffed cuz certain players wanna exercise a level of control over their product or service, a level of control that is prohibited not by freely entered into contract but by 'management'

ain't that right, tw?