I think the author is missing the point and has not done their research. We don’t have free-market economics or should I say it only exist for big corporations and party donors. That’s not a free market, but clear cut fascism.
Free market isn’t evil – it gives us the pleb ability to prosper, but when government restricts access so that only a chosen few can participate, then that of course works against us.
You can only look at our taxation system where we have reverse progression – the smaller business the more tax they have to pay, whereas for big corporations tax is essentially voluntary and not only that – they pay workers minimum wage and expect it will be topped up by the tax payer – including small and medium businesses.
That is what is – to an extent – facilitating the biggest wealth transfer in history. SMEs can’t compete, new business is not forming, there is no real competition, because most big corporations are owned by the same investment funds and so on.
If anything – we need free market back, the real free market, not the Tory fascist version that is anything but free.
It’s worth watching Trauma Zone on the BBC it shows Russia’s decline under the rule of the free market economics and the rise of the Oligachs/authoritarianism.
Tbf, they only believe in robust, free market, capitalist economics for poor people. They beleive in controlled market socialism for rich people.
>The Westminster parliament is a failed institution whose fundamental purpose of holding the executive to account has been abandoned and it no longer serves any useful purpose whatever. There is no better together, there is only subjection to a hostile adversary.
Sorry but this reads like an A-level essay rather than a serious article.
The “free market” was never “free”, considering our market is more or less shaped by the logic of a handful of millionaires and billionaires who’s only goal is to maximise profits, even if it’s at the expense of the working class.
the problem is that capitalist centered society is a very primitive cruel system. the other biggest problem is that not that many people are thinking about alternatives to it and the few alternatives that do exist are completely ignored by both the elites and the average joe.
This is a bad article. The ‘cult of free market economics’ has many damaging effects, but the author has managed to miss most of them and somehow believes that it was the core motivation for leaving the EU (outside the ERG faction, this is simply not true; cultural and social reasons predominate over any economic issues from surveys of Brexit voters).
Tying in regulations with strikes and protests is just plain wrong; it may be that the government (like all governments) is anti-strike and anti-protest, but free market economics has no ideological opposition to either. Rather, it’s opposed to bad regulations which unfairly favour some corporations over others in order to entrench the advantages of major economic players. By free market logic, such regulations lead to an inefficient and unfair economy that makes lots of people poor and miserable. They also have a tendency to grow and grow, requiring a larger and more expensive bureaucracy which steals more money from the economy and the taxpayer over time.
Of course there are also plenty of ‘good regulations’ such as those relating to safe working conditions. Not many free marketeers are out to scrap safety helmets on construction sites, for example.
A central tenet of free market economics is in fact small government, something which stands in stark opposition to the vast, overregulated police state required by authoritarianism or totalitarianism. Our writer completely ignores this point. If anything our problem is that people in government pick and choose between different ideologies in order to pursue their own interests, resulting in the worst of all combinations as far as the ordinary voter is concerned.
The article is not great, it’s not the obsession with free market economics, it’s the obsession with making money.
So many economics professors in the comments section today
What about the cult of price control where they want to control the prices at supply side but ends up hurting everyone else?
I mean it didn’t though, did it?
The UK isn’t a free market, corrupt politicians spaff money up the wall to their friends, associates and colleagues and austerity stagnated the economy to a standstill.
Whatever the UK is doing it isn’t free market economics.
We don’t have free markets basically anywhere lol
Especially not in housing and energy, where it’s illegal to boost supply on 99% of UK land
12 comments
I think the author is missing the point and has not done their research. We don’t have free-market economics or should I say it only exist for big corporations and party donors. That’s not a free market, but clear cut fascism.
Free market isn’t evil – it gives us the pleb ability to prosper, but when government restricts access so that only a chosen few can participate, then that of course works against us.
You can only look at our taxation system where we have reverse progression – the smaller business the more tax they have to pay, whereas for big corporations tax is essentially voluntary and not only that – they pay workers minimum wage and expect it will be topped up by the tax payer – including small and medium businesses.
That is what is – to an extent – facilitating the biggest wealth transfer in history. SMEs can’t compete, new business is not forming, there is no real competition, because most big corporations are owned by the same investment funds and so on.
If anything – we need free market back, the real free market, not the Tory fascist version that is anything but free.
It’s worth watching Trauma Zone on the BBC it shows Russia’s decline under the rule of the free market economics and the rise of the Oligachs/authoritarianism.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p0d3hwl1/russia-19851999-traumazone
Tbf, they only believe in robust, free market, capitalist economics for poor people. They beleive in controlled market socialism for rich people.
>The Westminster parliament is a failed institution whose fundamental purpose of holding the executive to account has been abandoned and it no longer serves any useful purpose whatever. There is no better together, there is only subjection to a hostile adversary.
Sorry but this reads like an A-level essay rather than a serious article.
The “free market” was never “free”, considering our market is more or less shaped by the logic of a handful of millionaires and billionaires who’s only goal is to maximise profits, even if it’s at the expense of the working class.
the problem is that capitalist centered society is a very primitive cruel system. the other biggest problem is that not that many people are thinking about alternatives to it and the few alternatives that do exist are completely ignored by both the elites and the average joe.
This is a bad article. The ‘cult of free market economics’ has many damaging effects, but the author has managed to miss most of them and somehow believes that it was the core motivation for leaving the EU (outside the ERG faction, this is simply not true; cultural and social reasons predominate over any economic issues from surveys of Brexit voters).
Tying in regulations with strikes and protests is just plain wrong; it may be that the government (like all governments) is anti-strike and anti-protest, but free market economics has no ideological opposition to either. Rather, it’s opposed to bad regulations which unfairly favour some corporations over others in order to entrench the advantages of major economic players. By free market logic, such regulations lead to an inefficient and unfair economy that makes lots of people poor and miserable. They also have a tendency to grow and grow, requiring a larger and more expensive bureaucracy which steals more money from the economy and the taxpayer over time.
Of course there are also plenty of ‘good regulations’ such as those relating to safe working conditions. Not many free marketeers are out to scrap safety helmets on construction sites, for example.
A central tenet of free market economics is in fact small government, something which stands in stark opposition to the vast, overregulated police state required by authoritarianism or totalitarianism. Our writer completely ignores this point. If anything our problem is that people in government pick and choose between different ideologies in order to pursue their own interests, resulting in the worst of all combinations as far as the ordinary voter is concerned.
The article is not great, it’s not the obsession with free market economics, it’s the obsession with making money.
So many economics professors in the comments section today
What about the cult of price control where they want to control the prices at supply side but ends up hurting everyone else?
I mean it didn’t though, did it?
The UK isn’t a free market, corrupt politicians spaff money up the wall to their friends, associates and colleagues and austerity stagnated the economy to a standstill.
Whatever the UK is doing it isn’t free market economics.
We don’t have free markets basically anywhere lol
Especially not in housing and energy, where it’s illegal to boost supply on 99% of UK land