1 of 1

Write now Article Tools

Page 4 of 4

evil that government ought to curtail. He was simply acting in his capacity as a consumer, a capacity in which his individual self-sovereignty ought to be recognized. If a producer of fireworks destroyed 100,000 units of his good by igniting them, he, too, would be immune from blame. He only wanted to enjoy a spectacular pyrotechnic display. To extrapolate this reasoning, if a producer of coffee burned 100,000 tons of his product, why would he deserve condemnation where the fireworks producer did not? Can an external observer truly know that the producer desired to burn the coffee specifically to keep prices artificially high? It might be that the businessman simply wished to enjoy the burning as a consumer satisfaction. As the igniter of fireworks might receive pleasure from the result, so might the burner of coffee obtain a similar subjective value. While his tastes may be unusual, and few others would personally exhibit them, they are not coercive in any way. They do not interfere with the sovereignty of any other consumer and constitute an exercise of property rights that a truly free market will tolerate.

The idea of consumer sovereignty, within the proper bounds, provides a firm justification for why the free market works to satisfy the preferences of every consumer. Recognizing those bounds, as Rothbard did, will additionally suggest why the absolute free market is superior to democracy or to any coercive initiation of force by one party against another. Indeed, the free market can be defended even against the worst-case scenario of the producer destroying a part of his own stockpile. When full economic liberty exists, so does full individual self-sovereigntya condition that benefits all market participants.

Learn more about this author, G. Stolyarov II.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4

Add your voice

Know something about The concept of consumer sovereignty in economic theory?
We want to hear your view. Write now!