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by ataggart 4351 days ago
>"free" and "free of governmental interference" are not the same thing.

Since "free" in this context means absence of coercion against extant or would-be competitors, and since government regulatory efforts are a source of such anti-competitive coercion, unless one is concerned with firms sending hit squads against each other (which would more rightly be considered "crime"), the distinction isn't particularly useful.
1 comments
aninhumer 4351 days ago
Are you suggesting the only possible forms of anti-competitive coercion are government regulation or hit squads?
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zanny 4351 days ago
If it is voluntary it is not coercive. You can always not deal with your competition on unfair terms. In what circumstance could a 3rd party non-violent entity coerce you? The biggest one I can think of is "buying you out" but that is still either voluntary, in that the owners agree on the buyout, or it is a buyout of a publicly traded company, and I can't even get started on how non-free market the stock market is, but even then you elected to sell ownership in a public marketplace voluntarily and took that risk.
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aninhumer 4351 days ago
>In what circumstance could a 3rd party non-violent entity coerce you?

Predatory pricing. Buying up necessary capital. Paying other companies to not deal with you (Suppliers, Retailers, Advertisers etc.)

All completely voluntary, and these are just off the top of my head.

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ataggart 4351 days ago
>Predatory pricing.

Offering a lower price to consumers than your competition is not coercion against a competitor.

>Buying up necessary capital.

Offering a higher price to suppliers than your competition is not coercion against a competitor.

>Paying other companies to not deal with you

Entering into exclusive deals with other firms is not coercion against a competitor.

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sgift 4350 days ago
> Offering a lower price to consumers than your competition is not coercion against a competitor.

It is if you are offering a price lower than your costs which you offset by cash from earlier deals, which the new upstart cannot do. When the new upstart is bankrupt you push the price higher, because now there's no competition anymore. That's the reason such stunts are forbidden (at least in civilized countries).

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aninhumer 4351 days ago
And when you go bankrupt because you're unable to run your business, you'd consider that completely voluntary?
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snitko 4351 days ago
How is it not voluntary? I started it. I knew upfront I could fail. Has anyone else forced me to fail?
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