e part by the inefficiencies created when the profit motive was removed. The resulting shortages made life almost unbearable in communist countries, and assets were routinely wasted by the government planning authorities while the needs of the population went largely unmet.
In the 21st century, only North Korea remains a staunch proponent of the traditional communist model of central planning, and North Korea is essentially bankrupt. Its people are fed thanks in large part to donations of food from foreign governments. The reason the free market and only the free market should regulate business is that market control by the government reduces output, reduces choices, and leads to a lower standard of living. Thus, one can support the idea of free markets based on an intrinsic respect for free choice.
C. Another reason to support the idea that the free market should regulate business is the elegance and simplicity of the laws of supply and demand. The laws of supply and demand tell us that it is an efficient way to allocate scarce resources. The price of a good or service is used to balance the supply and demand for it. Consumers tend to buy less of any product as it gets expensive. Suppliers will tend to supply more product as the price goes up recognizing there are additional profits to be made by supplying more of a particular product or service, but the actual amount purchased and the actual prices paid are a function of supply and demand. Specifically, the market mechanism in a free market will produce an equilibrium price at which demand and supply will be equal. Furthermore, a large number of individuals making free economic decisions produces better results in regard to a more organized, efficent, and productive economy than would be the case in a centrally planned economy where individual decisions are either not permitted or are overridden by a central planning authority that presumes to know more than producers...