[Craig]
Not quite. A "market" is a reflection of the values of those who
participate, whether or not these accord with the values of the culture.
[Arlo]
Well, I'd say a "market" is more an amalgamation, hence a reflection
more of cultural values than of any one not in accord. For example,
many hold the value that guns should not be readily traded on the
market (in America). And yet the broader cultural value holds they
should. And so they are. The buying and selling of arms within the
market reflects a larger cultural value. Interestingly, on the same
topic, the "black market" in illegal arms and those oft-spoken
"WMD's" is similarly reflective. The "market" doesn't distinguish
between the two, the values that society adheres to regulate the
market is what differentiates the black market from the stock market.
Of course, the larger any system is conceptualized, the less precise
one's comments on it are. The "market" in your local hometown
evidences a better approximation of the values of the people in your
town than large scale analysis of market patterns at the national or
global level. Of course, even in your small-town there will be
disagreement on market structures. Here in State College there is an
ever-present conflict between those who seek to regulate adult-bars
to the distant outskirts of the county, and those who feel that such
regulations on the market are unfairly used to manipulate market
interests (proven fact that people, no matter how boob-crazed they
are, will reach a point where the drive prevents them from going, and
distance is only one such regulatory device).
[Craig]
Of course, society can constrain markets to make them less free.
[Arlo]
Can. Does. And should. The question is about excessive regulation,
prohibitive regulations, how much, when and why. As I said,
"copyright" is in fact an in intellectual constraining of the market.
As is the illegality of trading large scale arms. As are laws
demanding Spirits Shops to be a certain distance from school grounds
(same for nude bars). As is the ban on pot and other illegal
substances. Indeed, the ban on human slavery is an intellectual
constraining of the market. Minimum wage. Disclosure of contents.
Workplace safety laws. Hell, even the very fact that we have public
land set aside that can not be mined or forested is a constraint on
the market. Constraints on the market are not ipso facto "evil".
Often they are "good" and derive as a response to "evil". Just ask
the Appalachian miners in the late 1800's.
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