The CEO of Netflix is the latest person to get a lesson in how the free market works. Reed Hastings is now apologizing for not realizing how his customers would react to a major price hike and change in subscription plans. Roughly 1 million customers said no thanks and the stock price tanked. Those who believe central planners should make decisions about winners, losers, supply, and demand should take special note. Central planners can never guess or create market forces that represent the reality of supply and demand and the millions of signals that consumers send with their buying decisions. And when businesses make decisions not supported by their customers, their customers respond, and in this case, the CEO changes course. Market forces are real and wondrous to watch.
