Do Free Markets cause Recession?

Readers Question: Consider the view that leaving the economy to private enterprise and the market system is more likely to lead to recessions and instability than to sustained economic growth.

Without government intervention, I believe the economic cycle would be more volatile.

• Booms and busts will be more common see: The economics of Herding and irrational behaviour
  
• Economies can get stuck in recessions, where resources are under utilised and it can take a long time for the economy to recover. See: Keynes general theory.
• The finance sector does need regulating. The experience of the current credit crunch suggests that banks are not good at self regulation; it would have been better to have stricter regulation of lending and this would have avoided many bad debts.

See: How long do recessions last?

However, government intervention is not always successful:

• Problems in preventing a recession
  

Also, it is argued by classical economists that economies will automatically recover after a fall in short term output. But, the experience of the great depression shows that a lack of government intervention can cause problems.