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Democratic Vs Free Market Essay

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Elections have become synonymous with Republicans versus Democrats but it also represents a juxtaposition between two prevailing economic perspectives; free markets and Keynesian economics. This year the former party and view will come into power and while Donald Trump has openly discounted free market values, he has surrounded himself with free market gurus like Larry Kudlow and David Malpass. Free markets by definition characterize a decentralized economy which individuals are believed to do a better job allocating resources free of government guidance. In doing so supply and demand routinely adjusts to an optimal equilibrium that satisfies as many market participants as possible. Its foundations are rooted in the single more important proposition in economic history, the invisible hand. The term, invisible hand, was first coined by Adam Smith in 1759 in his work the Wealth of Nations and has had a lasting impact on the study of …show more content…

Its underpinning relies on assumptions, not scientific law, that market participants are rational decision makers with static preferences arising from perfect information, in other words information is disseminated ubiquitously. These tendencies move the market towards a general equilibrium and broadly a laissez faire model of governing that minimizes government intervention. Smith’s metaphor has been hijacked in recent years, particularly by wealthy Republicans, to mean minimal government intervention and widespread deregulation. This has had destructive consequences in the years leading to the 2008 Financial Crisis. Critics often blame the functioning of private market and decentralized environment as the primary driver of the crisis. Factors such as information asymmetries in financial markets along with a lack of checks and balances on destructive market practices encouraged excessive risk taking in the form of predatory and subprime

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