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Comment by koonsolo | Hacker News Reader

I like a free market economy. If you like a more planned economy, I think there are only a few examples left in the world. But I'm sure you can emigrate there and see how it works out.

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free market economy doesn't mean no rules.

Saying "leave if you don't like it here" is a poor argument. I am not sure you want to debate in good faith?

I didn't say that. If you have a free market, you don't have the lockins described above. So you a market where people decide whether to do business or not.

Oh YOU like a free market economy, so it's okay to enslave people in third world countries. As long as YOU'RE happy.

How about we cut your pay to 70 cents per hour and see if you still like it?

Then I just go work for somebody else. It's pretty simple.

What free market economy do you like best? I live in the US, and we have a minimum wage, safety regulations, mandatory breaks, etc. We’re generally considered wildly free market compared to most of the developed world, but we’re still a far cry from a totally free market because we acknowledge that people have certain rights, and the government is the guarantor that those rights aren’t trampled by sociopaths. We don’t do a perfect job at it— not even close— but I think things would be much worse for the average worker here without some of that regulation.

That view is missing human consideration, however, and is a cynical take. People in those non-free economies you speak of simply do not have the choice and can not just choose to emigrate to a free market at will. We must have some constraints to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

What, if any, interventions should government provide in a free market economy?

Massive bailouts are fine apparently.

I'm sure the cyclical recessions that require repeated government intervention are because free market economy isn't free enough.

Any notions to the contrary can only be communist.

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