Free trade is an important aspect of capitalism. This aspect allows transactions like “a prison cell upgrade”, “access to the carpool lane while driving solo”, and “the services of an Indian surrogate mother to carry a pregnancy” (Michael Sandel, What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Market). However, trades should not be totally “free”, and regulations should exist for the protection against exploitation. This is because the current society is based on an economic and political system that contains aspects of both capitalism and socialism, which means injustice should be prevented via the intervention of the government.

Two forms of exploitation between individuals exist: exploitation of the first party and exploitation of the third party. An example of the second party exploiting the first party is when child labor happens in developing countries without proper labor laws. The second part here is the corporation or the factory owner, and the first party is the children. Children work for more than 12 hours a day with very low or no wage, with the risk of being injured. This violates human rights, which means it is unjust, and the government should intervene and prevent it. An example of a third party being exploited is when human trafficking occurs. The third party here is the person being trafficked. Even though the buyer and the seller have made a consensus, it violates human rights as the person being trafficked does not have the right to liberty. In this case, the government should intervene too.

There are also forms of exploitation that involve bigger groups. An example of this is a social phenomenon called the race to the bottom. As multinational corporations only move based on how they can make the biggest profit, they do not have consideration for the communities where they operate. Due to the value of free transactions and global competition, it is the corporation’s choice where to provide services and where to locate workplaces. For a country to attract foreign investment from corporations, it is often necessary for the country to weaken its regulations so that corporations can be more profitable. This includes reducing taxes, lowering the minimum wage, and weakening environmental regulations. In this phenomenon, the nations are being exploited, and there should be a consensus on regulations between nations to prevent this.

The government must protect citizens so that free trade can happen in a just and competitive way. If proper protections are provided, the society will function properly as individuals will be led by an invisible force as they thrive for profit, and development will continuously progress.

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