Nothing is perfect. The free market is better than big-government mandates at providing equal opportunity. I have no problem with government safety-net programs in theory, but they should subsidize goods and services from the free market, not form a big government-provider complex.
Now you change topics to monopolies. I have no problem with government laws to prevent these. By their nature, they're easy to identify and don't require millions of federal workers to combat.
"I stand by the position that competition in many markets is inherently unstable, that the concentration of market power in the hands of a few suppliers is an evil that can impose a barrier to entry, and government intervention is essential for the continuity of a competitive state of affairs. "
Government intervention is the primary barrier to entry. Wouldn't it be more efficient to remove government barriers to entry, rather than have government handouts help people/businesses overcome government barriers? Learn about history before calling for bigger government... bloody [ignorant] communist.
Markets are inherently 1,000,000,000 times more stable when free than under the corrupt hand of government. That's a real figure. I looked it up.
"Moreover, the free-market is not the best solution to every problem. You would not want the free-market to handle law enforcement or military defense, however you are a mistaken about how restricted those services should be."
And, because we task our government with national defense, that inherently makes government babysitters "ensuring" equality of opportunity in all levels of society a good thing? Yeah, that's a strong argument. I do want some national defense to be administered by our government, therefore I want a babysitter too and hate the free market.
Are you feeling alright? I'm concerned. Because that's stupid.
[I wish I could obey forum rules]
And attacking a straw-man: I'm not advocating anarchy nor suggesting that participants in free-markets are interested in anything in particular. Free markets espouse meritocracy regardless of the corruptibility of their participants. You sound like xeno, with no clue how free markets operate or how they produce all the groovy, sexy things that they do.
