May 27, 2010 12:56PM # President Obama’s Poor Understanding of Voluntary Exchange By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) --- SHARE As explained in [an excellent letter to the editor of *The Washington Post*](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/26/AR2010052605021.html): > Capitalism’s friends never had to cede moral ground to its enemies, but they will have to replace the current power structure to make room for a revival. President Obama summarized his understanding of free enterprise in his 2009 commencement speech at Arizona State University: “ruthless competition pursued only on your own behalf…” > > > That markets are built on voluntary transactions — mutual exchange for mutual benefit — is an alien concept in the academic environment that produced Mr. Obama and many of his staffers. That **one accumulates wealth in a free market by providing value to willing buyers — the exact opposite of acting “only on your own behalf”** — is another idea unlikely to penetrate the zero-sum mentality that dominates this administration. The author is one Michael Smith of Cynthiana, Kentucky, a [gifted](http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2010/04/18/no_self_restraint_in_this_meddlesome_government/) and [prolific](http://cincinnati.com/blogs/letters/tag/northern-kentucky/) letter-to-the-editor-writer. ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).