A TIMELY REMINDER THAT MARKETS CAN BE ENSLAVING OR LIBERATING

From an OP-ED in The News & Observer HERE

"Free markets, when idolized, demand sacrifice"

“An idolatry is growing in the land and it could destroy our health. Idolatry is the worship of earthly things as though they were gods. In our case, the idol is the human idea of the sanctity of private markets. Evidence of this idolatry abounds in statements and images: “the invisible hand of the market”, “the magic of the market”, “the market is a bull”, “the market is nervous” or “exuberant” or “relieved.” Well-funded market missionaries use mass media, advertising, think tanks and, now, full-blown university programs to evangelize, to share their “faith in the market” and exhort us all to believe. The market’s high priests, the business news commentators, explain to us what the market is saying. We hang on their words because we are told that our well-being depends on it. This gleaming golden calf is compelling indeed.

But the “free” market is not a god to be worshipped. It is a tool which uses the supply-demand dynamic to allocate resources. It can be a useful tool. It has been used to accelerate economic growth and expand certain freedoms for many people. But it is only a tool. It must be harnessed and used in conjunction with other tools for the common good. Just as we need more than a power saw to build a house, we need more than private markets to uplift and strengthen our communities. Other essential tools include volunteerism, philanthropy, churches and other non-profits and democratic government. All are important. All involve human beings, so no tool is perfect. Yet, we are asked to believe that the market can do no wrong, that it is practically a sin to use the tool of our democratic government to regulate the market and provide health care for our community.”
[Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article161416873.html#storylink=cpy]

COMMENT

A contribution to balancing the exuberance of many public economists (including Milton Freidman, etc) when they idolise the “Market”, and their critics who denounce “Markets” as if they are the “Enemy”.