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Dan Bromley's excellent discussion of the use (misuse) of the word "free" 
in conjunction with the word "markets"  brings to mind the usefulness of 
the phrase "self-regulating" to describe the utopian ideal of "free" market 
systems.  Karl Polanyi in _The Great Transformation_ developed the contrast 
between markets that are embedded in other social structures (rules of law, 
public policy, other kin or community based organizations of production 
and/or distribution) and the utopian concept of a self-regulating market 
system.   The introductory textbook account of how "free"  markets work is 
an account of a self-regulating market system.   Polanyi's argument that 
policies designed to create such a system in the 19th century U.K. were 
utopian accords with Dan Bromley's  description of how "free" is used in 
talking about markets. 
 
 
 
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