When All Else Fails Blame "Free Markets"

Tsing Tao

Tsing Tao

When All Else Fails Blame "Free Markets"

Mike "Mish" Shedlock

It's rather amazing how people blame "free markets" for things that are 180 degrees removed from "free markets".

For example, and in response to Political Greenwashing: US Exports Coal Pollution to Europe; What About China? reader Over Exposed writes "Excellent example of a complete and utter failure of the free market to deal with pollution".

I see and hear this every day. I would have hoped that people would have learned by now what a "free market" is and isn't.

--- Chinese State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) are not "free markets"
--- Chinese growth targets at any cost are not "free markets"
--- Interest rate manipulation in the US have nothing to do with "free markets"
--- Chinese and Swiss National Bank currency manipulations have nothing to do with "free markets"
--- Ben Bernanke's and Janet Yellen's 2% inflation target - horrendously applied - and ignoring asset bubbles are as far removed from "free markets" as you can get.


Complete fools blame the "free market" for problems 100% caused precisely because we do not have "free markets".

Popular Myths

Contrary to popular myth, free market libertarians do not support slavery, anarchy, or pollution. Rather, we strongly believe in property rights and human rights. No one can own anyone else.

No one can kill you, steal your goods, or damage your property. Laws and regulations that protect property rights and prevent fraud are welcome.

It is amazing how people clamor for more regulation to cure problems caused by regulation and excessive interference in free markets.

Can We Please Try "Free Markets"?

We've tried everything else, and it did not work. Can we please try "free markets" with the minimum number of regulations and laws needed to preserve property rights, preserved human rights, and prevent fraud?

Sadly, I suspect the answer is no. Neither vested interests nor jackasses who have no idea what is really going on, want "free markets".

It's a powerful combination, and we all lose because of it.
 
futurecurrents said:
Yes, it worked so well in 2008. The banking sector would self-police. Oh yeah, we can trust corporations to do the right thing.
More...

The banks are one of the most, if not the most, heavily regulated industries in America.

Hedge funds are completely unregulated.

Guess which ones lost their asses and needed a bailout.
 
The U.S. Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission reported its findings in January 2011. It concluded that "the crisis was avoidable and was caused by: widespread failures in financial regulation, including the Federal Reserve’s failure to stem the tide of toxic mortgages; dramatic breakdowns in corporate governance including too many financial firms acting recklessly and taking on too much risk; an explosive mix of excessive borrowing and risk by households and Wall Street that put the financial system on a collision course with crisis; key policy makers ill prepared for the crisis, lacking a full understanding of the financial system they oversaw; and systemic breaches in accountability and ethics at all levels".[30][31]
 
futurecurrents said:
The U.S. Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission reported its findings in January 2011. It concluded that "the crisis was avoidable and was caused by: widespread failures in financial regulation, including the Federal Reserve’s failure .[30][31]
More...


Nothing like trying to defend a statement that free markets are to blame by producing a report placing the blame on the regulators.

lmao
 
futurecurrents said:
Yes, it worked so well in 2008. The banking sector would self-police. Oh yeah, we can trust corporations to do the right thing.
More...

Again, reading comprehension for the win!

What happened in 2008 was because of tampering in free markets, not as a result of them (they did not exist). If the laws were in place and enforced for fraud, we'd never have had that issue in the first place.
 
fhl said:
Nothing like trying to defend a statement that free markets are to blame by producing a report placing the blame on the regulators.

lmao
More...

Seriously. This guy has made a career of shooting himself in the foot.
 
fhl said:
Nothing like trying to defend a statement that free markets are to blame by producing a report placing the blame on the regulators.

lmao
More...

emotlol_2.gif
 
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