Re: Free Market
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The free market does an outstanding job of serving the long term interests of its society. Just look at the long term rise in the standard of living in the U.S.
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A long term rise in standard of living is no argument for the American system. You can find considerable increases in the standard of living in all sorts of places, say Hitler's Germany or the Soviet Union, or China.
You note that the environment is one area where the "free market" does not do so well.
The free market does not do a good job of factoring costs that are absorbed by the public, such as air or water pollution. For example, a product that would be unprofitable to produce if environmental cleanup and decreases in surrounding property values were accounted for is produced anyway.
I would also note that the free market is quite effete when it comes to the development of technology and basic research, a segment that could fall under the heading "long term planning." The development of the computer was clearly something business has benefited from, but it was too great a task for any one private entity to stomach at the time. The same is true of the internet, aeronautics, satellites; basically anything developed under the pentagon system.
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