Freedom, Society, and State - Ludwig von Mises Institute

initial, faddish interest in the project dies down, the
producers will move in with pressure for exemptions and
other special rulings."(49) The libertarian, therefore,
opposes all regulation not only on moral but on
practical grounds as well.
But how would the market be able to protect the
interests of the consumers in the absence of regulation?
Libertarians believe that there are any number
of noncoercive ways that this could be handled. First,
Hospers points out that a company's good name is its
best guarantee of its future business. Businessmen are
no more inherently trustworthy or honest than any other
soc i a 1 g r 0 up. But the f r e e rna r ke t p I acesam0 net a r y
inc e n t i veon h 0 nest y • Chea ting rna y res u Itin ash0 r t ­
term gain, but a company that incurs a reputation for
c h eat i n g its pa t ron s wi I Iso0 n fin d itself wit h 0 utany
patrons and, thus, going out of business. Since the
market works to reward honesty and penalize dishonesty,
it is believed that a totally free market would actually
serve to raise rather thanWlower standards.(SO)
It is also likely that a laissez faire society
w0 u 1 d g i v e r i set 0 m0 rema g a z i n e s s u chas Cons ume r
Rep 0 r t s, pro v i din g sub s c rib e r s .wit h i n for rna t ion 0 n
eve r y t h i n g fro m the qua lit Y 0 f pa r ticu Iarbrand s 0 f
safety pins to individual physicians. While certainly
not a I 1, 0 rev e n m0 s t, w0 uIdsubs c ribe t 0 s u c h rna ga ­
zines, economists such as Friedman contend that even
the careless shopper would be better protected in the
absence of government controls. "Producers," he says,
work on a margin, like everybody else. If
the five percent of shoppers who are carefUl
spot a clever misrepresentation, they'll
leave the store. That's enough pressure on
the store owner. The infrequent shopper
assumes this when he goes to a store that's
popular. There has to be a reason for its
popularity, he decides. The reason is that
it appeals to those who are very carefUl
about measures and labels and that sort of
thing.(Sl)
There are other devices by which consumers would
be able to protect themselves. While anyone in a libertarIan
society would be able to enter any occupation
he desires, includIng those of physician and lawyer,
libertarians do not regard this as a problem. First,
the market would insure that only the most competent
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