The Virtues of Free Markets

Abstract

This article argues that free markets promote other important virtues that have heretofore received scant attention. Specifically, through fostering an indefinitely-lived series of exchanges, free markets create a future promoting integrity and trust. This is because the more the future matters, the better behaved are individuals in the present. Therefore, rather than being castigated, as they so often are in the popular media and political arena, for encouraging immorality, free markets should be praised for fostering integrity and cooperative behavior through their promotion of ongoing mutually beneficial exchange.

Keywords: free market capitalism, U.S. economic system, economic liberty, private property rights, laissez faire capitalism

JEL Classification: P10, P16, P17