Alan Goldman Free Market Analysis

The free-market economy is based on supply and demand. The idea is that products will be manufactured and sold at adjusted levels such that a fair market price is maintained. In other words the selling price of an item will vary based on the demand and supply of that item, adjusting as economic conditions change. Advertising has a large effect on how the free-market functions. Alan Goldman, in an excerpt from Just Business (1983, found in Honest work by Ciulla, Martin and Solomon), justifies advertising in the free-market economy using four main arguments, that “it is consistent in a free- market economy”, ”it is not wasteful of economic resources”, “it provides certain indirect social benefits”, and it is “a valuable source of information” (Goldman, 1983, p.301). Goldman claims that for each one of these reasons there is a necessary and immediate need for advertising if our market economy is going to function properly and we will discuss his arguments below.

Goldman opens our eyes here to the idea that advertising is something required for the free-market to function properly. One of the biggest things in the market affected by advertising is media which would not exist at a fair market price today if it were not for advertising. Goldman continues to justify this argument up by pointing out that, at its core, advertisement is just a way to provide information, nothing more and nothing less. It is there to make people aware of their options and show them what is available on the market. Goldman also points out that there are multiple arguments for and against advertising as a whole and what it is meant to accomplish, this in itself allows for one to conclude that advertising is exactly like any other product of the free m...

... middle of paper ...

... to television and radio advertising. I actually feel advertising bombards the consumer with unnecessary information that was in no way relevant to their decision making. This does not mean that companies are monopolizing the market but it does mean that companies are filling consumer heads with products and ideas that they do not need or already have and know a substantial about. For example why do I need to watch fifty commercials about an I-phone when I already have one and know all of its features and costs? Why would I need to watch a commercial about cholesterol medicine when I am going to take whatever is prescribed by my doctor? And lastly why would so many people switch over to watching Netflix or Tivo if advertisements were something that were required for full knowledge and costs? There are other, less deceptive, places we can find this information.