<p>@PengPhils I am actually on your side of the free market argument, but I would like to point out where @ThatOneWeirdGuy argument is actually wrong, and therefore your rebuttal doesn’t work. </p>
<p>One of the biggest reasons for free market is that because of our greed, the free market system works perfectly. I recently went to a seminar (Advocating for free market) where several demonstrations showed how personal greed pushes the free market system. Their argument simplified would be: because we all have our individual interests and needs, free trading with our peers can make us all happy. A central force such as the government cannot know all information, and therefore cannot make everyone’s choices for us, so the government should not interfere with the trading. For a free market system, trading should only be I give you something you want, and you give me something I want, on terms we both agree with. Demonstrations and statistics show that indeed, highest utility (or happiness) and highest profit margins are produced when there is a free market. </p>
<p>That was their side of the argument. Like I said, I’m on your side, against completely free market. My rebuttal is that in human greed, while we trade freely, we may also be affecting a third party and the Earth. For example, water supply requires pipes in the Earth. These are externalities. </p>
<p>In a free market system, individuals would be allowed to supply water to anyone who wishes it. Therefore, the could be more than one company with more than one pipe buried in the same area. This would ruin the Earth and other people who rely on it. Markets such as the water supply market require regulation and perhaps even government monopoly in order for the preservation of the Earth. Free market would not work. </p>
<p>That said, I am of the view that free market can and do work in some markets while government intervention is required in other areas.</p>