FLASH! The 'free market' is dead!

'Long live the free market!'

In case no one has noticed it, the so-called "free market" has died.

Yes, I know it's a blow to all you Adam Smith, Ludwig von Mises and Milton Friedman fans, but heck, someone's got to tell you the truth.

Go ahead. Give me an example of a free market. I double-dog dare ya. I have one maybe: my local farmer's market. And maybe some swap meets. But other examples in the U.S.? Can't think of any.

Yeah, there are lots of examples in so-called less developed countries, where there are public markets with many sellers and buyers, as opposed to the U.S. where there are fewer sellers and more buyers.

But all large markets in modern, industrialized countries are sanctioned, molded and manipulated by government action, including international trade.

This is the truth, folks: The so-called free market is like the Wizard of Oz. It's just a false image manipulated by a little man behind a curtain.

Yet here is a big difference between Professor Marvel and today's market manipulators. Professor Marvel admits his ruse and apologizes. Many of today's market manipulators actually believe the myth even as they twist it to their needs. Admission of guilt and apology are the last thing on their minds.

So go ahead and believe in the "free market" if you must. I can give you several other things you can believe in: Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Loch Ness monster; the moon landing was faked, man-made climate change is not occurring, the earth is 6,000 years old, the moon is made of green cheese; Darwin was wrong, Freud was right, Clapton is God — although the last is probably truer than all the others combined.

The free market is dead. Long live the free market!

— LP