A free market if ever one truley existed is anarchy to a point until it results in cartels and monopolies. A free market can only be short lived because of this and also because a free market is inefficient as its major contribution to society will always be market failures. Privatisation of public utilities is a good example of this and the avaliability of bird flu vaccine.

The Redback Brewery came into operation in 1989. The following year, after a very brief independent life, it came under the control of Carlton and United Breweries Limited who had purchased Brewtech, whose assets also included the Sail and Anchor Pub Brewery and the larger Matilda Bay Brewery at Nedlands.

Carlton and United Breweries continued to operate the Redback Brewery until late in 1999, and during much of this time the brewery was used for the production under licence of Stella Artois.

I just wonder how people who abhor everything connected to and stemming from one type of anarchy (social anarchy)justify advocating another type of anarchy, particularly as they have rejected anarchy as rottern in fundamental principle and so no good could possibly come of it. Any anarchy hating free marketeers out there care to don the gloves?

Fozz “big boys squeezing off their supplies of malt, yeast and so on.”

Anti trust, contracts in restraint and monopolies and cartel legislation and case law has been around for well over 100 years.

Suggestions that a contract to ensure a vendor of supplies refused service to a buyer at the behest of another buyer would contravene that legislation.

Whilst the recent US FTC efforts to address the near monopolistic power of Microsoft seems to have met serious resistance, the US FTC has had great success in breaking up other monopolies and monopolistic practices like the oligopolistic control of pricing and supply of which funeral homes had in provision of funeral services and articles (eg caskets).

Similar legislation was enacted in UK from which Australia drew its precedences.

You will recall the massive fines imposed on the suppliers of concrete in Queensland following the uncovering of a price cartel there.

One concern I have with government businesses and why I do not believe government should be running any commercial undertaking is, they invariably exist with benefit of a monopoly environment. Example, the breaking of the old PMG / Telstra monopoly illustrates how telephonic service users are better served by multiple players in the market rather than being hostage to a monopoly supplier, which is more focused on satisfying the demands of its employees than delivering competitive service

Telephone services are crude compared with the potential the technology is capable of. Deregulation of telecomunications is a good example of a sectorial failure. Competition has led to near monopoly, service cost inflation, wasted resources, fluctuating and inconsistant quality and market failure. The free market has only one winner , the operator who happens to by luck get out of the market before the market declines. The consumer cannot benefit in the long term in a free market environment because the service will inevitably collapse thereby making the goods unavaliable. The market will initially offer goods lower than true value to destroy competition then the market will always inflate costs.The survivor has to recoupe losses to survive longer. Profit is the most inefficient economnic activity and the free market depends on motivation to profitise. Resource wise the free market is the most wasteful because the imperitive is short term survival and dependent on over night cost cutting which usually results in quality decline shortening the life span of the enterprise. Added is the materials source which is doing the same thing and so inflation is amplified.
Fortunetely there is no such thing as a free market , it is just rhetoric to justify policies which have only short term advantages and high risk failure.

The major problem is that the function of money has been perverted by our financial institutions.Money is the medium of exchange for goods and services,store of wealth,etc,but it has now become a commodity in itself,with its own power and momentum,that can distort the true needs and wants of the people who produce tangible wealth,hence economies are found wanting because of the one sided power of global capitalists.They do not see that the really true wealth is an educated population that don't live in the slavery of sweat shops or mortaged to rapacious financial institutions.

Unfetted Global capital is making us all, very uncivilised.I think it is time to think locally and buy back our jobs,dignity and community spirit.Lots of money sooths our insecurities,but does not foster social cohesion or give us a sense of worth.