Freedom, Society, and State - Ludwig von Mises Institute

f. Care for the Truly Poor.
There is one final question to be dealt with.
What would happen to those few who were in fact incapacitated
and could not take care of themselves? Regardless
of the socioeconomic system, such people can be
provided for only out of "surplus production." The
complete el iminat ion of government intervention would
h a vetwoe f f e c t s: [1] i t wo u 1del i minate the pove r t y
unnecessarily created by such government policies as
minimum wages and I icensing restrictions; and [2] it
would increase output and thus "surplus production."
There is, of course, no guarantee that this "surplus"
w0 u 1 d got 0 the tr u I y need y • Yet, i n 19 78 Arne rican s
donated nearly $40 billion to charity.(55) If one assumest
hat u n dera pur e I a iss e z fa ire e con omy the r e
wo u Ids till be abo u t 8 or 10mi II i on poor, th i s wou 1d
prorate out to $5,000 for every poor individual in the
country or $20,000 for every poor family of four. And,
given an even more productive economy coupled with the
s i g n i f i can t I Y lowe r t a xes res u I ting from the disrna n t I ­
ing of the weI fare state, it is conceivable that this
sum would be even greater under pure laissez faire.
In short, the libertarian believes that there is
every reason to believe that the poor would fare better
under the market than under the government.
4. MONOPOL I ES AND THE FREE MARKET
Libertarians believe that the substitution of a
completely laissez faire economic system for the political
system of government intervent ion would el iminate
the pr ob I em of power. But in the absence of a governmentally
imposed anti-trust policy, would not voluntary
cartelization or "cut-throat" competition result in the
emergence of a few giant corporations able to use their
monopol ist ic positions to exploit consumers?(56) Libertarians
answer in the negative.
Assuming a free market, the first question is how
one attained a monopoly position in the first place?
Since profit can only be earned by supplying consumers
wit h wha t they wan t bet ter than anyone el se, the "monopolist"
IS seen as actually increasing their satisfact
i on beyond the abi Ii ty of any other producer. Otherwise,
he would never have obtained his position. This
situation is unchanged even after he has become a
"monopolIst," for an attempt to restrict production and
raise prices would only serve to attract competitors
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