The free market still works
Is America at an economic crossroads? Long the bastion of free enterprise and markets, support for socialism appears to be rising. According to a recent Gallup poll, 43% of Americans view socialism positively, which is the highest this failed economic theory has reached since 2010, when the annual survey was created.
Consider the recent elections of self-proclaimed Socialists Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York and Katie Wilson of Seattle. But regardless of claims that are circulating on social media, socialism isn’t the answer to America’s economic issues. Instead, the solution is to embrace the principles of free enterprise, not to impose more federal control. History has proven time and again that free markets reward work, raise living standards, and create opportunity.
The United States experienced record-breaking immigration in the late 19th century and early 20th century because of the belief that someone could move to America, work hard, and become more prosperous to give their children and future generations a better life. One could start as a low-skilled laborer, save wages, and then move into more skilled work or start their own business. What was true then remains now.
In 1913, Henry Ford, the son of an Irish immigrant, revolutionized the moving assembly line at Ford Motor Company. The process of building a Model T dropped from over 12 hours to just 93 minutes. It made automobiles more affordable, and this innovation heavily benefited the workers, with the company nearly doubling wages from $2.34 a day to $5 a day, or $79.99 to $170.91 a day adjusted for inflation, while cutting shift lengths from 9 hours to 8 hours.
This innovation also positively impacted the consumer. The average price of a Model T went from $825 in 1908 to $395 in 1920, or around $30,000 to $6,500 in modern-day dollars adjusted for inflation. This is just one of many examples showing that free markets benefit owners, workers, and consumers.
While family budgets are tight today under the impact of tariff- and war-induced inflation, Americans shouldn’t forget the many luxuries that can be taken for granted right now. Household appliances like the refrigerator, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, and microwave have all increased in quality and also come down considerably in price from 50 years ago. Air conditioning spread from being in just 35% of American homes in 1976 to 88% in 2026.
In general, technology has become increasingly affordable and more advanced at the same time. Computers and smartphones used to be inaccessible to ordinary households, and today they are almost universal. Anywhere free enterprise is embraced, living standards go up.
In the free market, able-bodied citizens don’t have to wait for the government to create a position for them. If there is a rising demand for a solution to a problem that hasn’t been fixed in the country, it’s in the entrepreneur's best interest to invent and create to meet that need. By doing so, the entrepreneur builds their wealth and at the same time provides a service that is wanted in the marketplace.
The free market also encourages competition within a sector to bring down prices and improve options. The American dream was made possible because employees understand the value of their labor or of building an innovative business.
Economists have seen the fruits of the free market and the pitfalls of socialism in South America. In Venezuela, years of socialism wrecked the economy. The true marketplace disappeared and was replaced by government control. Investment and production declined. For example, the price of oil started to drop in 2013, exposing just how vulnerable the Venezuelan economy was under socialism. The World Bank estimates that GDP fell by more than 75%, and the poverty rate increased by 63% between 2013 and 2021.
South of Venezuela, Argentina is already seeing the rewards of free market principles since President Javier Milei took office in 2023. Milei inherited a struggling economy and immediately started cutting taxes, deregulating the market, and reducing barriers to private investment. In just three years, the inflation rate went down by 85%, poverty shrank, and private investment has begun to produce results.
The free market has proven to win time after time. When it is embraced, the United States is a testament to the effectiveness of limited regulations and small government. But as families struggle with increased costs from onerous government policies, citizens must resist the temptation to give the government even more control through socialist policies.
The economic choice is obvious: Shrink the size and scope of government’s economic meddling, and allow the American worker to innovate, build, create, and prosper under a free-market, not command-and-control government policies.
