Chapter 7
Why Economists Love Free Markets and Competition
IN THIS CHAPTER
Measuring the social benefits of different output levels
Demonstrating that free markets maximize total surplus
Reducing total surplus with taxes and price controls
Producing at the lowest possible cost to society
Adjusting to changes in supply and demand
Economists love competitive free markets — markets in which numerous buyers freely interact with numerous competitive firms. Indeed, economists firmly believe that when competitive free markets work properly, they’re the best way to convert society’s limited resources into the goods and services that people want to buy. (Please note that, for brevity, I sometimes just say free markets or markets in this chapter rather than writing competitive free markets each time. I’m trying to maximize my resources here.)
Why do economists place such great confidence in competitive free markets? Because the interaction of supply and demand (which I discuss in Chapter 4 ...
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