First of all, thank you for a very thoughtful and thought-provoking essay. There is much in it with which I agree and much with which I disagree.

Capitalism (Big Business) simply cannot be equated with free markets. It is contrary to every proposition on which the theory of free markets stands. (If it matters, I do have an M.A. in economics.)

In the U.S. the emergence of Big Business forced government to grow (eventually). If the function of government is to protect the persons and property of individuals, it must be big enough and strong enough to take on the biggest, baddest predators in society. Big Business is inherently predatory.

More broadly, liberty as the ideal of society presents a conundrum. Obviously, curbs on liberty are necessary in the interest of justice. Those curbs thus become the source of justice, not liberty.

There is a solution: mutual respect as the ethic of justice for governing the governance of society. Adopting mutual respect as the ethic of justice would maximize liberty as a practical matter and reinforce our democratic political process (without which liberty and justice for all cannot exist).

Mutual respect can be applied to the economy, via a “democratically distributed income” (DDI). That could be accomplished with a single Act of Congress. Doing that would make the existing economy self-regulating (so no more ‘managing’ it using fiscal or monetary policies) while providing the means to eliminate unemployment (at no cost to anyone) and poverty (without having to redistribute anything). The same process could be used to fund government (at all levels, from central to local), eliminating the need for any taxes or public debt. Sustainability would be increased (even without more regulations or any changes in behavior).

If curious, the philosophical issues are related in “Re-thinking Individualism” and an introduction to the DDI is in “A Truly Great Idea” (with links for further reading), published in Data Driven Investor, both here in Medium.