Signs of The Free Market

In an otherwise regulated and taxed economy, sometimes you and I run across examples of the free market that still exist, voluntary exchanges taking place, people gathering in a location and trading goods and services for a price they feel is optimal. The end result of this process is almost always great choices, and in this case it is food! The North Market has such a great selection of foods from all over the world, coffees, teas, and desserts.

There is no doubt that when these types of places or conditions are "unusual" that this is evidence that markets are not free (if you still had any doubts). I've heard on more than one occasion people commenting on what a revolutionary idea Uber has, where people provide other people with a service for an agreed upon price. We (not in a collective sense but as in all Voluntaryists) all know that the idea of voluntary exchange is nothing new and is something that flourishes when the State's violence apparatus is out of the way or eliminated all together.

Maybe you can find or think of examples where the State hasn't completely suffocated businesses to the point where continuing to exist is not profitable.

People told me about this place that lived in the area and also let me know what types of foods they tried while there. "You have to try the donuts!" or "Have you been to that ice cream place there yet?" Also in the same respect, those who don't offer at a competitive price or differentiate their products go out of business and make room for items with potential for greater demand from the thousands who frequent here. It's a place people can go to buy the products they want.

How is this different from the norm? You and I consume from larger businesses each day, maybe food from McDonalds, some items at Wal-Mart, or a coffee at Starbucks. The status quo is that the State's regulations and taxation ("theft") crowd out smaller businesses, that may have otherwise in a free market still continued to operate (since they provide a good product). What you are then left with is a crony corporatist economy that mixes socialism with a quasi-fascist oligopoly, where large businesses that may not necessarily offer the best service, dominate an industry and beg the State for more regulations and/or subsidies in order to remain in business (also to eliminate their competition. An excellent read on this topic is Murray Rothbard's The Progressive Era).

An example of this would be massive conglomerates like General Electric (GE) where former CEO Jeff Immelt colluded with the federal government during the Obama years on the Council for Jobs and Competitiveness (whatever the hell that is) source.

Ayn Rand often wrote about corporatism in Atlas Shrugged. One the antagonists in this novel, James Taggert tries to make worlds of problems for Hank Reardon's steel company by summoning the Alliance of Railroads to inspect and regulate the new metal Hank used on the Rio Norte line. Many of Rand's villains are crony capitalists that earned their wealth through back room deals with regulators and by collusion with government officials through legalized extortion.

"Having money is not the measure of a man, what matters is how he got it. If he produced it by creating value, his money is a token of honor. But, if he has taken it from those who produce, then there is no honor, you are simply a looter."

The next time you run across these exceptions to the norm; a lemonade stand, a neighborhood garage sale, a farmer's market, or a group of businesses gathered in a market to make voluntary exchanges with willing customers, think about how there might still be a glimmer of hope for the free markets. If these exceptions became the norm in spite of the State's interventionism, just think about what a much better place this world might be.