Do you see any downsides to government's setting prices? There have been a few examples of this in the 20th century..
> Rewarding this kind of greed also isn't exactly pushing society in a positive direction, longer term.
Call it what you want, but they're the ones making and providing goods we all agree are necessary :) money is the tool our society uses to incentivize more of that behavior.
Goodharts' Law applies to money too. Government action need not be as draconian as a centrally-planned economy to push incentives just enough to eliminate the worst excesses. How much is 'just enough' is, of course, up for debate. But the answer is not 0% just as it obviously isn't 100%
> Rewarding this kind of greed also isn't exactly pushing society in a positive direction, longer term.
Call it what you want, but they're the ones making and providing goods we all agree are necessary :) money is the tool our society uses to incentivize more of that behavior.