Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

(I saw that Jeff Bezos wants the Washington Post’s editorial page to run pieces touting the merits of free markets. Here’s my submission.)

There are not many issues on which there is largely bipartisan agreement, so the story we tell about the origin of economic inequality stands out. Both sides agree that the increase in inequality of income and wealth is driven by an unfettered market. The difference is that conservatives say it is wise to accept the outcomes of the ‘free market,’ while people on the left believe the government should ameliorate the effects of the market.

But both sides accept that inequality is caused by the market. This is nothing but a Big Lie that bolsters elite interests.

The reality is that there is no “the market” out there generating inequality. The government structures the market, which is infinitely malleable and can produce almost any outcome we want. Over the last half-century, we have increasingly structured markets in ways that generate more inequality — a reality that our economic policy debates largely refuse to acknowledge.

Let’s start with the clearest example: government-granted patent and copyright monopolies. These are government policies to promote innovation and creative work. Since we have seen lots of innovation over the last half-century, one could argue these are good policies. However, the economy actually had faster productivity growth (the economic measure of innovation) in the quarter........

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