The Economic Way of Thinking 13th Edition by David Prychitko, Peter Boettke, Paul Heyne

Exercise 6

Critics of government regulation often try to make a case for the "free" market. Are markets ever completely free? Free from what? Is a market "unfree" if participants operate under laws that prohibit the use of dishonest weights and measures? Laws that prohibit misleading advertising? That prohibit price increases that have not been approved by a government agency? Where do you draw the line between free markets and unfree or regulated markets? Why do you draw it where you do?