Advantages
1. A free market economy gets rid of a significant amount of red tape.
Because there is much less government interference in a free market economy, the levels of bureaucracy are significantly lower. The absence of red tape and complex rules reduces the administrative costs that companies face when developing or marketing goods and services. Since the expenses are lower on the development side, customers can benefit by spending to access more innovative products.
This advantage also makes it possible for organizations to put extra money toward other endeavors, including new research and development opportunities.
2. The free market provides more freedom to innovate.
A free market economy enables organizations to become innovative when imagining new ideas. That means the products and services that become available to the average person have more long-term value to consider. Entrepreneurs aren’t dependent on government agencies to tell them what to do or how to develop new products or services that the public needs.
It is up to each company to study consumer demand, popular trends, and basic needs to provide the best value promise possible. This process creates a higher level of competition in each industry, allowing customers to decide who is the best and deserves their money.
3. Customers always drive transactions in a free market economy.
Organizations in a free market economy have the ability to pursue profit in whatever way they choose. That means any goods and services that are not profitable will usually not receive any attention. Customers make the final determination as to whether an idea will succeed or fail, which means they are the judge and jury for each company.
Disadvantages
1. Profit is always the motive for success in a free market economy.
The primary objective of every business in a free market economy is to earn as much profit as possible. Most situations will see an organization deciding to sacrifice worker safety, compromise on environmental standards, and act without ethics because no controls are in place to govern their behavior. The ends will always justify the means when it comes to the survival of a company in this economy.
Even with a partial free market economy in place, we’ve seen numerous examples throughout history of this disadvantage. Companies like WorldCom and Enron attempted to mislead their customers and government regulators, while the incident on Deepwater Horizon proved to be one of the most significant environmental disasters in U.S. history due to cost-cutting measures like the use of sub-standard cement.
2. Market failures can create severe recessions and ongoing economic consequences.
If a free market economy begins to lose control, then the consequences that happen as an outcome can be quite severe. Two specific incidents in the United States created long-term financial hardships for families: the Great Depression in the 1930s, and the Great Recession from the real estate market crash in 2008. Failures can devastate the lives of millions of households, resulting in lost income, unemployment, and homelessness.
The reason for this disadvantage is a lack of control over profit-seeking behavior. Instead of creating investments that provide slow and steady gains, short-term profits are often the priority in a free market economy. Highly-leveraged assets, loose credit, and no government intervention create a higher risk of failure.
3. A free market economy can provide limited product choices.
Organizations in a free market economy don’t pursue the development of products unless there is a profit potential available. That means limitations in the range of goods and services offered to consumers can exist locally, nationally, or internationally. This disadvantage can impact specific groups of customers more than others based on household income and other factors.
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