well free markets meant something very different in adam smith's time; what they...

einpoklum · 2026-07-24T09:04:54.000000Z

D: "I want to be free" by Milton Schulman.

H: Milton Friedman.

D: Why are they all called Milton? Anyway, I've only got as far as Milton Keynes.

H: Maynard Keynes.

D: I'm sure there's a Milton Keynes.

H: Yes, there is, but it's... [appears quite miffed]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgUemV4brDU

wasfgwp · 2026-07-24T14:19:14.000000Z

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Keynes

Coincidentally it’s where the British version of the Office is set

yunnpp · 2026-07-24T03:12:33.000000Z

It's not free from interference either. It requires enforcing antitrust, for example, which the US seems to have forgotten. Literally what you quoted:

> the term free market refers to a market free from all forms of economic privilege, monopolies and artificial scarcities.

andrekandre · 2026-07-25T03:03:13.000000Z

yep, to keep them "free" you have to "interefere" with them

as an aide, the overloading of the term free is really annoying because it muddles things so much...

wasfgwp · 2026-07-24T14:17:50.000000Z

> free from any interference

That’s even less true in the US these days, though