A free market is a market where the price of a good or service is, in theory, determined by supply and demand, rather than by governmental regulation. A free market contrasts with a controlled market or regulated market, where price, supply or demand are subject to regulation or direct control by government. An economy composed entirely of free markets is referred to as a free-market economy.
Although in contemporary usage free markets are commonly associated with capitalism, free markets have been advocated by socialists and have been included in various different proposals for market socialism.
Read more about Free Market: Overview, Studies, Misconceptions, Criticisms
Famous quotes containing the words free and/or market:
“The American people owe it to themselves, and to the cause of free Government, to prove by their establishments for the advancement and diffusion of knowledge, that their political Institutions ... are as favorable to the intellectual and moral improvement of Man as they are conformable to his individual and social rights.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“To throw obstacles in the way of a complete education is like putting out the eyes; to deny the rights of property is like cutting off the hands. To refuse political equality is like robbing the ostracized of all self-respect, of credit in the market place, of recompense in the world of work, of a voice in choosing those who make and administer the law, a choice in the jury before whom they are tried, and in the judge who decides their punishment.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)