Markets or government: Whom do you trust?

Free-market advocates have the deck stacked against them in the marketplace of ideas (ironically) for a very simple reason: Markets are impersonal, intangible things, whereas governments often have friendly, nurturing personae attached to them. From Uncle Sam to Mother Russia, people like to think of their government as a friendly face, and governments love to indulge them this delusion.

Markets? The very word conjures up notions of commerce, but in a way that feels cold, heartless and mathematical — the opposite of ‘shop’ or ‘trade,’ which denote similar concepts but in a more tactile manner.