NightOwlFive years after killing a journalist in cold blood, Saudi Arabia is stronger than ever
AriaSaudi-led Opec Plus cartel decided to cut production by 2m barrels a day – the opposite of what Biden administration officials had pleaded with the Saudis to do. After the shock of that embarrassing announcement, which threatened to raise gas prices around the US midterm elections, Biden vowed: “There’s going to be some consequences for what they’ve done.”
I thought you liked the free market?
That classic free market system where a cartel has regular meetings to set production levels to maximise their profits.
A free market is a distinct concept from a perfect market. You’re describing a perfect market operating under ideal conditions.
A free market with laissez-faire policies lends itself directly to cartels and monopolies because a perfect market cannot exist without government intervention. Maybe you should’ve paid attention in ECON 101.
I dunno, maybe they changed the terminology since I took it. Seems to me “free market” was not previously imbued with all that meaning you guys are reading into it. I’m not convinced it isn’t just an Americanism.
CascadeOfLight [he/him]To further add, that’s in line with the modern “neoclassical” definition of the free market, which is almost exactly the opposite of the original definition used by Adam Smith and other early capitalist economists. Smith defined a free market as one free of rents, that is, unearned incomes taken by (mostly at the time feudal) landlords, craft guilds, church tithes, monopolies and through usurious debt. He was especially vocal about what he thought should be done to landlords!
Whereas, the “modern” definition is a market where all actors are free to do whatever they want with their money, including buy up rent-extraction opportunities, form monopolies and cartels and trap people in debt servitude - all to the detriment of the actual productive economy - and no democratic process should be allowed to stop them.
A “free market” is an unregulated market. At least, that’s how it’s sold in politics. An unregulated market lends itself towards cartels and monopolies.
Indeed, I am convinced of it. Thanks to everyone who took the trouble to help fill in my ignorance there. It was a pleasure being your crazy person on the internet for the day.
