Free Markets: From Competition to Cooperation

Critics of free markets often argue that the competition found in markets is akin to animals in the wild; in the “dog-eat-dog” world of capitalism, they say, people must fight for survival. In this argument, however, lies insidious equivocation. On the contrary, markets are the most effective means for promoting both peace and social cooperation.

The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.

Critics of the free market often claim that capitalism is a system of ruthless struggle for survival. They say it is a system of dog-eat-dog competition. In fact, as the great Ludwig von Mises argued in an unanswerable way, the free market replaces the struggle for survival found in the animal world with social cooperation in which everybody benefits. Capitalism is a system of peace, not war.