Probably as good an overview of the problems as has been offered. If the markets were indeed operable, a low return on investment would be obviated. However, in the oligarcy system you describe this might well be the case.

There is no free market in agriculture. And the system of rewards is a flawed one. The highest rewards go to those producers the escape calamity. One hard freeze years ago made all of us living in my area very smart people. We didn't do anything special except happen to be here instead of being in the next county north of us. In agriculture, a bumper crop spells low prices at the market. The buyers at the market represent the large retailers chains and hold the farmer by the shorts when production is good. Tell me about equity and fairness in the market place in agriculture.

The stock market is an auction market. This operates on the greater fool theory. For every buyer there has to be a seller. So many of these markets are rigged it is pathetic. I have a friend who "is down" for 15-20 for operating a scheme to rig some markets. In the best of entreprenuerial tradition he was set to have his phony company take a significant position in a NYSE listed company. Tell me the big board operates totally honestly on a market system.

A group of my friends were set to take over an insurance company so they could use the concept of surplus notes to do a ponzi real estate scheme. Tell me how the insurance industry operates on market principles.

I served as an executive for a utility company. The more money we could spend, the higher rates we would be allowed to charge and the greater our cash flow would be. Explain to me how the market served the consumer.

I could continue on ad infinitum, but the story would merely continue same old, same old. The point is that the vaunted free market is smoke and mirrors. We have a managed economy, but not a centralized managed economy. Recognize it.

Publius