Slavery is illegal, if a business was found to have slaves is that the "free market" at work?
Stealing property is illegal, if a business was found to be sealing property is that the "free market" at work?
Murder is illegal, if a business was found to be murdering people is that the "free market" at work?
Dumping toxic waste into a river is illegal, when a business did that why is that the "free market" at work?
Remember that you can have a heavily taxed regulatory market and still have dumping and slaves. And you can have a free market where slaves and dumping is illegal.
My opinion on this is that a Free Market Capitalism is absolutely the most just, fair, and productive economic theory that exists. It will provide the most products at the lowest prices and produce the most jobs with the best pay. But it will also cripple and crush existing mega corporations.
So (tin foil hat time), Large businesses lobby congress to make laws that prevent free markets and those same businesses and politicians vilify free markets and tell false stories like "Free Markets made a RIVER START ON FIRE!!! Booo Free Markets!!", "Do you want paint thinner in your milk? NO? Than you MUST be against free markets or else your baby food will have razor blades in it!!
But the reality is that none of that would ever happen if law was equally enforced. And Law does not negate a free market. By that standard the only way a true free market could exist would be in an anarchist society.
But big business doesn't want a free market because it would mean competition. Taxi companies hate Uber and are trying to ban it, in a free market anyone could paint their car yellow and charge for rides.
All a free market is, is saying that no law, regulation, or tax will be imposed on business that isn't imposed on society.
Can you legally have sex? Yes, then in a free market you could legally charge for sex.
Can you legally rape? No, then in a free market you could not rape.
Then there are the regulatory issues.
It is legal for me to buy property and cut down the trees on that property. But if I own a business it is illegal for me to buy that exact same property and cut down those exact same trees unless I am permitted and their is an Environmental Impact Statement from the EPA.
Or on the other hand, It is illegal for me to even dump out my soda into Lake Michigan, But BP has the right to dump over 10,000 gallons of ammonia a DAY into Lake Michigan because a regulation allows them to do so.
And remember that slavery was legal in the US under a taxed and heavily regulated economy.
The problem is that people like to automatically attribute everything negative with free markets, and everything positive with a regulated economy, when nothing could be further from the truth.
The positive and negative aspects of a country come from their basic law and how well that law is enforced, not what type of economic policy they have.