LIBERALISM, ECONOMIC FREEDOM, AND THE LIMITS OF MARKETS

In: Social philosophy & policy, Band 24, Heft 1, S. 120-140

Abstract

This paper points to a lost and ignored strand of argument in the
writings of liberalism's earliest defenders. These "classical"
liberals recognized that market liberty was not always compatible with
individual liberty. In particular, they argued that labor markets required
intervention and regulation if workers were not to be wholly subjugated to
the power of their employers. Functioning capitalist labor markets (along
with functioning credit markets) are not "natural" outgrowths
of exchange, but achievements hard won in the battle against feudalism.
Further, and crucially, the existence of such markets required closing off
other market choices.