All the free market evangelists always conveniently forget the original definition of what constitutes a free market. The paper that coined the term free market specifically referred to them as “well regulated”. From the very beginning it was recognized that a functioning market requires government regulation, if for nothing else at least for contract enforcement and dispute resolution. Without regulation what you’re left with is just “might makes right”.

Realistically though there are two distinctly different groups that use the term “free market” and they mean two distinctly different things when they do so. We have economists who mean theoretical free markets and have a very specific concept in mind. Right or wrong they are at least arguing in good faith. Then we have politicians and the general public who are using the term purely as an excuse to justify their policies designed to benefit massive corporations and the rich. For the later group the former group are just tools to be used. Even if all the economists got together and declared free markets a bad idea they would just keep referencing the old economic papers, just like they do for trickle down economics.

Don’t worry, they’ll destroy a lot more than that. The entire US economy is about to be absolutely shredded.