#6 The Illusion of Free Markets with Bernard Harcourt

For most people, the existence of markets appears natural. We buy our food through markets, we rent the places we live in through markets, and our work takes place within a labor market. It is often assumed that markets are a sphere of freedom, where different participants come together and exchange goods in ways that benefit everyone involved. But according to today’s guest, Bernard E. Harcourt, this idea of a harmonious and self-regulating market sphere is actually a myth. Harcourt further argues that what we often think of as unregulated market freedom in fact depends on extensive forms of regulation, policing, and coercion outside the market itself.In today’s episode, Harcourt traces the long history of this idea of market freedom and shows how what appears natural today was in fact constructed over centuries.