capitalism and free markets
Posted Oct 26, 2004 2:22 UTC (Tue) by
xoddam (subscriber, #2322)
In reply to:
capitalism and free markets by copsewood
Parent article:
Why open source is unsustainable (Financial Times)
> free markets ... lessen the scope for unfair profits
Posit a truly free market and yes, for the first generation, unfair
profits will have a limited scope.
But markets *by their nature* engender inequality. They allocate scarce
goods to those with the ability to pay, not to the needy. Even if all
market players are supposed to have precisely equal abilities to profit,
the moment someone accumulates enough capital to invest -- not very much
is required -- he or she has an advantage over people who have less. A
few generations down the track and free markets will bring you back to
the present -- capitalist -- situation.
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