EC2#Week 9

9. Is it freedom from all or freedom for all?

Freedom is something to be cherished, but is this the same as anything goes? When faced with the possibility of authoritarian regimes, freedom can be the rallying call. Freedom of the market may be preferred to a centrally controlled economy. But should the markets be totally free from government restraint? The cry for freedom has led to financial deregulation and a very different approach to ‘regulating’ the economy; perhaps it also led to the 2008 crash. Some of the more recent ideas of market freedom are considered.