Briefly state the core ideas of the free-market tradition, drawing on Smith and/or Friedman.

You are expected to develop and substantiate your own argument in this essay. Your essay must be based solely on the assigned readings and lectures to date (through Week Four); do not use outside sources.

From the writings of Adam Smith to the contemporary work of Milton Friedman, the tradition of free-market political economy has exerted significant influence. Evaluate its central claims in light of the critiques of two of the following: Keynes, Marx, Polanyi, or Lindblom.

More specifically:
1) Briefly state the core ideas of the free-market tradition, drawing on Smith and/or Friedman.
2) What does each of the two critics you have selected take to be its central problems?
3) In your view, how valid are these critiques, and why? (Note that you may draw on some of the historical material covered to date to strengthen your argument.)

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My idea is to use Keynes and Marx

Argue that markets fail to reliably regulate themselves and should not be left unchecked by the government. First, talk about how markets reliably regulate themselves according to the claims of both Smith and Friedman. Next, contradict Smith and Friedman’s claims by introducing arguments from Keynes and Marx that explain their view on how and why markets fail to regulate themselves.

To answer subquestion #3, argue why markets cannot regulate themselves and that some form of intervention is needed to stabilize them. Back up this argument with support from Keynes and Marx using some historical examples.

Please use the PDFs I’ve provided since the argument made must come from them. It’s okay to use outside sources, but just make sure they’re mentioned in the PDF readings.

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