That is what some professors, not all, teach in business school economics courses. The free market will maximize efficiency and regulation is inefficient blah blah blah. I haven't thought that way myself since my early days in college. A little inefficiency is not bad when the trade off is smoothing the sharp, jagged edges of capitalism. I remember discussing with you mixed economies and that is what the world's nations have to different extents. Free market fundamentalists, economic libertarians, have not been in favor for a very long time because their ideas don't work well in reality. Capitalism works better for everyone, rich or poor, if it is intelligently regulated.

We are 100% in agreement about money in politics. It was bad for a long time, but Citizens United made it worse by orders of magnitude. I don't see any progress made on that front during the next Admin. The only saving grace is both sides benefit politically from the money. But the super rich and big corporations own the politicians even more than ever now.

"Hell, I make no claims on how to solve this problem. But I can honestly claim I know for a fact who’s caused it."

That comment immediately made me think of the debate where Trump was asked how he would, specifically, end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. His response, "They never would have happened if I was president." Saying something never would have happened is not a policy for solving a problem that currently exists now. I wish the moderators had followed up but they let him off the hook.