On International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, HUGH LANNING warns that the US-led “Comprehensive Plan” entrenches decades of Western complicity in Israel’s domination and denial of Palestinian land and rights
Reclaiming the ‘free market’ from capitalist control
Idealised notions of free markets conceal the reality of a system designed to generate profits at the expense of workers and consumers — we need social and moral foundations for markets based on human need, writes BHABANI SHANKAR NAYAK
The UN has shamefully empowered the occupation of Gaza rather than ending it – we must redouble our efforts to build the movement required to establish a true peace, argues BEN JAMAL
Morning Star political reporter Andrew Murray speaks to ZARAH SULTANA on the mass party of the left holding its inaugural conference this weekend
DIANE ABBOTT warns that Shabana Mahmood’s draconian asylum proposals fuel racist scapegoating and risk demoralising Labour’s base – potentially paving the way for Farage to No 10
With ‘Your Party’ holding its founding conference in Liverpool this weekend, JEREMY CORBYN speaks to Morning Star editor Ben Chacko about its potential, its priorities — and a few of its controversies too
In part V of a serialisation of his new book, JOHN McINALLY argues that to confront capitalism’s escalating crises, unions must reorient toward class politics and help build a united, explicitly socialist alternative capable of representing the working class and its material needs
THE concept of the “free market” under capitalism is often promoted as an emblem of individual consumer choice and a driver of national economic growth and development.
The priests of capitalism view the free market as the most effective and efficient mechanism for resource allocation, framing it as a key engine of economic progress.
However, in practice, the free market is neither free nor fair for producers and consumers. Instead, it is largely controlled by capitalist interests.
This idealised notion of a free market under capitalism becomes a mechanism that separates producers from consumers, establishing independent pricing structures designed to generate super-profits — often at the expense of working people.
In a capitalist system, a “free market” implies that the state, government, and working masses — as both producers and consumers — cannot interfere in the market’s operations. Instead, market forces alone control prices, production, supply, demand, distribution, and consumption.
Within this framework, the purchasing power of consumers and the productive capacities of producers determine individuals’ perceived worth.
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