Sunday, October 9, 2016

What is a Free Market

A free market is an economic system in which prices are determined by unrestricted competition between privately owned businesses.

A free market is a system in which the prices for goods and services are determined by the open market and consumers, in which the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government, price-setting monopoly, or other authority. https://www.google.com/#q=free+market+system+definition

The law of supply and demand is the theory explaining the interaction between the supply of a resource and the demand for that resource. The law of supply and demand defines the effect the availability of a particular product and the desire (or demand) for that product has on price. https://www.google.com/#q=law+of+supply+and+demand+definition

Most of our expenses are not subject to free market pricing. Our tax dollars are paying for other peoples’ expenses. Our $20 trillion debt is the result of excessive government spending. Unnecessary regulations and destructive government policies are to blame for most of our problems.

Under a free market system, government would not regulate or guarantee any industry or commercial activity.  In the US, government would provide a system whereby grievances could be resolved peaceably.  Juries would hear testimony and review evidence and determine guilt or innocence, winners and losers.  Logically, the looser in a court case should pay all costs, including the costs incurred by the winner.  Our current judicial system doesn’t work like that and allows lawsuits to be used as weapons.

The alternative to this judicial system was the law of the West, the law of the gun.  It was a lot cheaper, but it led to pockets of governance by ‘war lords’.

Government did develop systems to determine ownership, including document copies of Bills of Sale that included descriptions of the property sold, titles recorded and patents awarded. These are held as public records available for review by juries adjudicating disputes.

The US Constitution and Bill of Rights (as written), is evidence that the Founders wanted an economic system as close to a free market system as they could get.  But the founding depended on the acceptance of the wording of the founding documents by 13 sovereign states, each with its own agendas and concerns.

Government in the US has adopted laws that violate free market principles.  These included laws governing commerce, regulations imposed on select industries, selective subsidies, selective favorable treatment, selective punitive taxation and government run industries like lending, healthcare and education and are not included in the “enumerated powers” granted to the federal government.

The fact that the US federal government operated on revenues from tariffs on foreign goods indicated that the Founders did not consider free market principles for imports as necessary.  They rather wanted Americans to buy American made goods to protect and develop full capability in the US economy.  All economies were “national” and they still are. 

Because our private sector is required by law to comply with government regulations, it incurs the cost of compliance in the pricing of its products.  But the big problems with inflated prices are embedded in industries that are controlled by government and funded by tax revenues, like education, energy, healthcare, lending and government itself. The cost of these services is unsustainable. These industries need to be returned to free market, consumer controlled pricing and government needs to be dismantled and returned to its proper size.

This transition will need to take place over a number of years, to give communities a chance to reduce the cost of education and give the healthcare industries a chance to do the same. The US federal government will first need to adhere to a balanced budget. Reducing tax expenditures for government, healthcare, education and lending functions should begin immediately.  

We are witnessing consumer resistance to education costs and should see consumer resistance to the rest as these costs become totally unacceptable.

The quality of government, education and healthcare is abysmal.  The fact that we are paying a premium for these services is atrocious.

The primary goal of educations should be help the student identify what they do well and enjoy doing in addition to developing the skills to function as a self-supporting adult.
The best education is self-education and the closest thing we have to that is homeschooling. Students need greater flexibility to satisfy their curiosity. We are interested in things we are curious about. The most successful people love what they do. Students need to choose to do what they love.

Education classes need to group classes by academic ability to allow slower students to master their skills before they advance to material that requires higher skills. Education is the responsibility of the student, with help from parents, relatives, tutors and teachers as needed. 

The best employment is self-employment.  Students would be wise to turn their natural abilities into family businesses. Working as an apprentice or a helper is the place to start. You can experience the work to see if you enjoy it before you invest your own money to learn it.  It’s best to read all you can about how to go about this work before you enroll in classes. Students who like to fix things will find a wide array of opportunities.

Healthcare needs to return to affordable treatments, but they won’t until consumers have to pay for it out of their own pockets. Malpractice lawsuits need to be replaced by suspensions and loss of licenses. Unnecessary tests will disappear. Expensive treatments that don’t work should be abandoned.  Overtreatment and over medicating should be avoided. Patients are responsible for taking the necessary vitamins and minerals to maintain their own health. The body has the ability to heal itself, if it has the proper ingredients and maintenance.

Government is a racket and needs to be made compliant with a short list of very limited responsibilities. Our socialist government continues to tell us we need more healthcare and education, but they have corrupted both beyond repair. These two industries need to be purified in the fire of the free market system so that consumers can regain control of the price.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader


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