Freedom and Market Libertarians view | Smith, Locke, Robert Nozick, Friedman

Freedom and Market

freedom in economics

There should be no interference of the state in the economic system. The exponents of this theory were mainly liberals. Liberalism was a theory or ideology that focused on liberty, equality, and the economy.

Liberalism believed that man is a rational being who knows moral and immoral or good and bad. It is believed that every person is equal i.e. no person is small or big or every person is capable of his own development and the state should not interfere in the development of any person.

Two attitudes are seen in liberalism:-

1. In the 19th century, which includes Smith, Locke, etc. He emphasized that there should be no state intervention in the economy or the market. These thinkers put a complete ban on the intervention of the state. 

2. In the twentieth century including Robert Nozick, Friedman, etc. He believed that the state can interfere with the freedom of the individual beyond a point. That limit will be the development of the individual. Can interfere with the freedom of the individual because the whole world system is anarchic. In this, not only humans are the enemy of other humans but also there are some natural things that affect the nature of humans.

Adam Smith presents his views on liberty in the 19th century.his views in his book Wealth of Nation presented believed that a person is a rational being, a person knows his good, bad and moral, immoral and therefore the state should not interfere or create any hindrance in the freedom or rights of the person.

He believed that a person is governed by natural laws which are universal and the state cannot impose any rule or law on the person. Adam Smith introduced the “invisible hand” the concept of the belief that if a person does any work, he does it for his own interest, and public interest is also included in it. This is what Smith calls the invisible hand. 

They say that the beginning of the market system is also due to self-interest because the person wants to develop himself, which is why he slowly moves towards the market and starts capital Arjun. He believed that it is necessary to have some limits in the market so that it does not create negative forces or hinder the freedom of other people. But these boundaries can be created only by natural laws and laws and not by the state.

Adam Smith believes that a clear line should be drawn between the private sector and the public sector, neither the state will interfere in the personal freedom of the individual nor the individual will interfere in the work of the state.

John Locke talks about natural rights which include the right to life, right to liberty, and right to property. People believed that the right to property is the natural right of the individual because they believed that even before the advent of the state, the individual had the right to property. But at that time the property did not belong to any one person but belonged to all the persons, i.e. shared property.

The property becomes personal property when a person accumulates it through his own labor. He believed that a person should collect only that much wealth that he needs. So that property can be saved for other persons as well,

John Locke talks about three types of limitations:-

He presented the concept of “Three Down Theory”. He said that the piece of land “Production to Product” is three important elements.

Friedman presented the idea related to freedom in his book “Capitalism and freedom”. He believed that freedom is a delicate plant that we must protect. Friedman believes that the biggest threat to liberty is the totality of power, that is, acting only to increase power will destroy liberty.

Friedman laid more emphasis on personality, he believed that the individual is capable of doing any work and the state would act as a medium to reach the goal of the individual. He also used to divide the private and public sectors.

Friedman says that the political sector and the economic sector are different things. But after the coming of the kingdom, the two get mixed.

Bentham believes that political freedom is a means to reach economic freedom, but after the advent of the state, political freedom has become a mere instrument.

Hayek criticizes Bentham. He believed that political freedom is a means of economic freedom but it talks about three subjects. What is the role of the market? A person does only what is in his interest. He says that when individuals are driven by self-interest and self-love, then the interests of one person collide with the interests of another person, that is, differences arise and it is necessary to have a state to end this conflict. There should be minimum interference from the state.

Friedman says that the state should play the role of an empire, that is, intervene in the context of right or wrong interests. Friedman also talks about freedom versus power. Hayek believes that the market is such a system in which the individual enjoys his freedom and at the same time the competition in the market increases and after the competition increases, the person has a lot of choices.