For several decades, I have had the good fortune to observe the activity of different types of markets. I have owned and managed businesses. I have invested in large businesses through stock markets. I have acted as a director of a regional bank, an investment management company, and several small businesses. And I have studied markets in the process of receiving degrees in economics and business.
Over that period, I have discovered significant inconsistencies in the way people think about markets. Some people believe that market systems have inherent flaws that require the intervention of outside forces, primarily government, to protect the market participants—producers and consumers. Other people believe that market systems provide their own control systems and do not need outside intervention to operate effectively and efficiently.
My study of the principles and theories advocated by the Austrian school of economics has convinced me of the importance of challenging the more widely accepted concepts regarding markets. I have concluded that popular economic theory contains fundamental flaws regarding the source and measure of value, the nature of exchange, and the importance of the role of the individual in market activity. These flaws in reasoning frequently lead people astray in their understanding of markets, and thereby, the alleged need for market regulation.
I have developed The Free Market Center to counteract the ignorance and misconceptions about markets that operate free of intervention. I have created The Free Market Center Journal to convey accurate and well thought out concepts regarding free markets.
Jim Berger