I disagree that the collision is necessary. See my earlier post on this.

The collision occurs when big producers try to squeeze out the small business, but this doesn’t have to happen if the government fulfills its role of removing obstacles (as Yves Simon might put it), that is, of keeping the market as open as possible. IKEA and Thomas Moser can both prosper if the market is free. True, most people won’t buy, say, organic meat, for whatever reason, but enough people will want it to keep small farms in business if arbitrary regulations don’t impede the flow of goods.

In the connection, I’ll mention something that struck me from the food chapter. Mr. Hutchins mentions in passing that he doesn’t ship his meat, though he implies he could, because he believes that people should buy from their local suppliers. Even as one praises the sensibility behind this decision, it is worth noting that Mr. Hutchins himself, not the free market or a big meat producer, has restricted his business in this way.