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FREE_TO_REGULATE

                                        October  2, 2018

There's an odd phenomena I've run
into recently:                                This one is from a reddit
                                              discussion.  (At least I'm
I regard the phrase "free market" and         not quoting tweets.  Yet.)
"laissez-faire" as synonyms.                 
                                             
I've run into people who claim that          
this is wrong, and there's some clear        
difference that anyone who knows             
anything about the field should know.        
                                             
They insist that "laissez-faire" is the complete
absence of government interference (if you want
to call it that) in the economy; but in a "free
market" there may be adjustments like taxes on
pollution, but there's nothing as heavy handed
as, say, price controls.

I've been reading about this crap for nearly
half-a-century, and the entire time the
"free market" has been the antonym of regulation.

Now evidently there's Good Regulation and Bad Regulation,
and you can call yourself a Free Market Advocate
as long as you stay away from the bad stuff.

   If you want to change sides without
   admitting you were wrong, switching
   the definitions around is a pretty
   convenient move.


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