> I struggle to understand how they get so out of whack with even the very basics. Do they chose their preferred outcome and work backwards? Are they beholden/captured? Did deifying the free market close the door to tweaking markets to adjust outcomes (a deity is always right)?
It isn't that surprising when you see that the people that usually espouse such views aren't doing it from a good faith perspective, or are simply hopelessly naive. The people that do benefit from such policies (namely the companies that benefit due to regulation) then fund these people, leading to narratives that are totally out of whack with reality.
Free market capitalism is great when you don't have control over a market and want a fair chance to take over it. Once you do control the market, it becomes your most dangerous foe (any group of smart enough people with enough seed capital and more efficient production has a chance of destroying the company you built over lifetimes).
It isn't that surprising when you see that the people that usually espouse such views aren't doing it from a good faith perspective, or are simply hopelessly naive. The people that do benefit from such policies (namely the companies that benefit due to regulation) then fund these people, leading to narratives that are totally out of whack with reality.
Free market capitalism is great when you don't have control over a market and want a fair chance to take over it. Once you do control the market, it becomes your most dangerous foe (any group of smart enough people with enough seed capital and more efficient production has a chance of destroying the company you built over lifetimes).