海角社区

Last weekend, we celebrated our country鈥檚 birthday. We celebrated our independence from the British Empire, and we celebrated our nation鈥檚 foundation on the principle of freedom. Freedom. Freedom of 鈥渁ll men鈥� to enjoy the 鈥渦nalienable Rights鈥� of 鈥淟ife, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.鈥�

In the same year that Thomas Jefferson so eloquently described the American ideal of human freedom, Adam Smith published his book The Wealth of Nations, describing what would become another pillar of this new country鈥攎arket freedom and its close relative, capitalism.

And, so, in 1776 were born a new nation and a new theory of economics. Both were founded on principles tested through history, but each included novel and genius concepts that have forever changed how we think about the world.

What I find interesting is how these two American ideals鈥攆reedom of men and freedom of markets鈥� have interacted over the years. While many Americans would die defending both concepts, I would argue that, in fact, the two cannot coexist without compromise.

The American experiment has made this clear. All men cannot be free unless markets are regulated.

Let鈥檚 look at some examples, using Jefferson鈥檚 three unalienable rights of freedom as our guide.

First, the right of life. When I think about what it means to have life, I think of health and the conditions necessary for sustaining or extending life. Free markets often deny those conditions. For example, unregulated manufacturing produces polluted air and water, which can cause significant health effects for the people who ingest the toxins. Additionally, a highly capitalistic healthcare market leaves many families without access to quality healthcare and, consequently, without the unalienable right of life. This became especially apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic, as the virus disproportionately killed poor and minority individuals with limited access to healthcare.

Second, the right of liberty. Our newest federal holiday, Juneteenth, is a reminder that even as Jefferson wrote about freedom for 鈥渁ll men,鈥� the early American economy was dependent on denying liberty to those who were enslaved. Until June 19, 1865, when government regulation finally ended the most egregious economic practice of American history, market freedom meant denial of human freedom.

Last, Jefferson included in his description of freedom the right to pursue happiness. This evokes the ideal of the American dream, the promise that in America, one can be and do whatever they want if they are willing to work for it. This is an inherently capitalistic dream and is the reason, despite what I have written here, I still like (regulated) capitalism. Unfortunately, though, due to discriminatory practices, this dream is not available to all in an unregulated market. I have written pretty extensively about labor market discrimination here before, and I will not rehash it all. But, data as well as anecdotal evidence show unequivocally that racial and gender discrimination still exist in American labor markets, and as I stated in an article published here a year ago, It does not matter how hard you try to climb a ladder if those who built the ladder did not install rungs all the way up for people like you. Without anti-discrimination regulation, markets do not provide for everyone the freedom to pursue happiness.

Before you freak out about all this, remember that market regulation, too, is a part of the fabric of America. It is what government exists to do鈥攁ddress shortcomings of markets. If we truly value human freedom and if we truly believe that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are unalienable human rights, we should always possess a healthy commitment to examining and re-examining our economic systems to be sure they are promoting, and not hindering those rights.

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Dr. Melissa Trussell is a professor in the School of Business and Public Management at 海角社区 who works with the college鈥檚 Reg Murphy Center for Economic and Policy Studies. Contact her at mtrussell@ccga.edu.