The strongest arguments for unregulated markets all turn on some variation of the thought that free markets are the most efficient way of satisfying our preferences and hence advancing our good as we conceive of it. There is no reason whatsoever to suppose that free markets are also good at shaping our preferences or forming our conceptions of the good. Hence, the strongest arguments for unregulated markets no longer apply to what has become the largest economic sector in the global economy today. There is no obvious reason to extend laissez faire ideals to the market in attention, and there are especially strong reasons not to extend them to the market in our children’s attention. We have, nonetheless, sleepwalked into a sweeping experiment with this extension. The results of this experiment are now becoming clear:

Read the rest, from Talbot Brewer in Hedgehog Review.

Isn’t this just a variant of “we need government to control/regulate this for the children’s sake”? As a parent I pay closer attention to these types of arguments, but someday my kiddos are going to be adults. Wouldn’t it be better to give them freedom to choose and guidance on consequences?