the ftc was founded as an anti-monopoly arm of the government, and is not the same thing as saying "consumers aren't smart enough to know whats good for them"
IMO as a libertarian, trust-busting is one of the fundamental responsibilities of the government because consumers and small businesses usually cannot overturn a monopoly.
> because consumers and small businesses usually cannot overturn a monopoly
But they can somehow fight the abuse and manipulation companies can expertly unleash on them? How is the uninformed consumer better prepared to combat this than a monopoly? Millions of individual consumers speaking with millions of voices have absolutely no chance against a companies with a single voice and a single goal. Companies hold far more cards than a regular consumer ever will. How much time can you dedicate towards protecting yourself and not being abused? Because a company can dedicate a lot of time into finding better ways to abuse or manipulate you.
It's a misguided belief that the Government intervening is intrinsically bad, or that any decision taken at individual level is intrinsically good simply because it proves "freedom". And this stems from lack of education and the unwillingness to accept that most individuals are woefully unprepared to fight back a never ending assault. But you can easily see the "converts" angrily shouting at the Government whenever they get trampled by yet another company. One of the more clear examples is when people who got scammed out of they cryptocurrencies went from "boo regulation" to "why didn't the government do anything" without missing a beat.
the ftc was founded as an anti-monopoly arm of the government, and is not the same thing as saying "consumers aren't smart enough to know whats good for them"
IMO as a libertarian, trust-busting is one of the fundamental responsibilities of the government because consumers and small businesses usually cannot overturn a monopoly.