The Mythology of Free Markets—a Response to Bezos’ Washington Post Directive | Opinion

In a move that should surprise absolutely no one who has observed the growing consolidation of media under billionaire ownership, Jeff Bezos has mandated that The Washington Post‘s opinion section will now exclusively publish articles advocating for free markets. This decree, issued from the heights of a fortune built in no small part on government contracts and tax advantages, reveals not just a concerning narrowing of acceptable discourse but a fundamental misunderstanding of economic reality itself.

The irony would be delicious if it weren’t so dangerous. The owner of a newspaper once renowned for holding power to account now demands its opinion section kneel before the altar of an economic theory that serves primarily to justify the spectacular concentration of wealth we’ve witnessed over the past four decades.

Let’s be clear—the idea of a “free market” is illusory. No market is or has ever been entirely free. This isn’t merely philosophical quibbling but an economic reality as immutable as gravity. Government affects the economy much as a star does a solar system, exerting substantial influence on everything near it by virtue of its mass alone. The question has never been whether government will influence markets, but how and to whose benefit.

Consider the infrastructure upon which Amazon built its empire—the internet (developed with government funding), highways and postal systems (publicly financed and maintained), educated workers (products of public education), and legal frameworks protecting contracts and property rights. Without these government interventions in the market, Bezos’ fortune would be inconceivable.

The mythologized “free market” fails to acknowledge how market participants themselves constantly seek to undermine competition through consolidation, monopolistic practices, and political influence. Amazon’s systematic destruction of retail competitors and aggressive acquisition strategies hardly represent the idealized competitive marketplace that free-market fundamentalists celebrate.

What Bezos’ directive represents is not economic wisdom but ideological capture. By limiting the Post‘s opinion section to free-market advocacy, he effectively transforms a vital platform for diverse public discourse into a propaganda arm for an economic philosophy that, not coincidentally, has facilitated his ascendance to becoming one of history’s wealthiest individuals.

History provides abundant evidence of markets’ inability to operate effectively without significant regulation and oversight. The 2008 financial crisis emerged directly from deregulatory fervor. The ecological catastrophes of unfettered industrial development demonstrate how markets, left to their own devices, routinely externalize costs onto society and future generations. The current crisis of economic inequality—with its attendant democratic instability—stems directly from policies guided by free-market fundamentalism.

This isn’t to suggest that markets aren’t powerful and essential mechanisms for organizing economic activity. They absolutely are. But markets are tools, not moral imperatives or natural laws. Like any tool, they require thoughtful design and careful application to serve human flourishing rather than undermine it.

The practical necessities of government impacting the economy are evident everywhere we look. From addressing climate change to managing pandemics, from ensuring equitable access to health care to preventing monopolistic abuse, the challenges we face demand sophisticated interplays between public and private sectors. A perfectly free market is as untenable as it is unwise.

What makes this latest directive particularly dangerous is how it feeds the perception that major media institutions serve elite interests rather than public enlightenment. Trust in media is already dangerously low. When billionaire owners visibly tilt coverage to align with their economic interests, that trust erodes further, with devastating consequences for our shared information ecosystem.

If Bezos truly valued the Post‘s journalistic heritage and contribution to democracy, he would be expanding, not contracting, the diversity of economic perspectives in its pages. He would welcome rigorous debate about the proper balance between markets and governance, recognizing that such questions are complex and consequential enough to demand multiple viewpoints.

Instead, by reportedly demanding ideological conformity on economic issues, he demonstrates precisely why concentrated media ownership threatens democratic discourse. The free exchange of ideas—ironically, a market that actually benefits from diversity and competition—becomes constricted to serve particular interests.

The Washington Post‘s motto famously declares that “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” But democracy also dies when the marketplace of ideas becomes as monopolized as the marketplace for consumer goods. Bezos’ directive to publish only free-market advocacy represents exactly the kind of concentration of power that a truly free press exists to challenge, not perpetuate.

Nicholas Creel is an associate professor of business law at Georgia College & State University.

The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.