Or perhaps to acknowledge that the assumptions about a free-market ignore the realities of human psychology, and thus a free-market inherently cannot exist because humans are not capable of producing a free market without regulation, and regulation is antithetical to a truly free market?
The idea is not that the free market will always produce perfect results and perfect goods. The idea is that the free market will produce better results at a faster pace with less unintended consequences than government intervention.
Government intervention rarely happens proactively, just as major market changes rarely happen proactively. Supplier failure on a large scale makes it apparent that change is necessary, and only then do changes follow, either from the top down by government intervention, or from the bottom up by the market.