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9/13/2021 07:34:00 AM
As stated elsewhere, complete freedom to act within a market isn't allowed now. A bicycle factory can't decide they are going to add 1000 horsepower rocket engines to their bikes and sell them without regulation.
And the reason it strikes you as odd, is because without doing any research to challenge your preconceptions, you constructed a straw man interpretation of the idea so you could avoid any thought or innovation. Look closely, it may reveal to you that you aren't actually looking to engage in a free market of ideas to develop the best possible economic system, but are simply here to reinforce your existing ideological framework.
But I'll engage in good faith here one more time to try to explain it further.
Under market socialism a lot of things could happen, but I'll describe one. There could be as many bicycle factories as there are now, self-financing at a high capital gains tax or receiving public investment dollars. They would build whatever bike they like, and compete for revenues with each other like under capitalism. The only substantial difference is the ease with which a government could shut certain factories down, if for example they were heavily polluting a nearby watershed. Under our current mixed system, agencies can regulate factories, but there is some leeway to continue polluting while getting court injunctions etc.
Another key difference is that while "owners" exist to manage businesses, owners wouldn't retain anywhere near as much of their capital past a certain point necessary for a very comfortable life. Most individual household income would only be usable for consumption rather than investment. In other words, investment of private funds would become more tightly regulated. The reason is because the massive wealth that can accrue under capitalism gives individuals the ability to influence the direction of the whole economy. There wouldn't be anyone with $100 bil in the bank because that amount of wealth means they have undue influence on governments and society.