[throwawayfinal]

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. North Korea is under incredible sanctions, and South Korea's embracing of the free market is considered to be an economic miracle made possible only by multiple headwinds, and some solid good luck.

China can hardly be called a free market, by the way.

[gwbas1c]

Well, we can debate the definition of a free market forever. We (in the US) tend to define "free market" as whatever benefits the corporations that buy the lobbyists. They sometimes like to slip in silly protectionist laws.

Read up on the chicken tax and the incident with Kerrygold butter in Wisconsin.

More recent examples are how the telcos got net neutrality repealed, the media companies strengthening copyright, and Trump loosening EPA restrictions. Those aren't really "free market" moves, but called free market by the parties who benefit from them.

[nereye]

Hmm, this seems relevant: http://fpif.org/kicking_away_the_ladder_the_real_history_of_....