Free market and cooperation
It might seem paradoxical that an economic system based on competition might encourage cooperation. This is because it does that indirectly. The efficiency of the free market is based in part on the fundamental concept of division of labor. This implies that instead of making all the things I need myself, I just make those I am most productive at. The rest of the things I need I obtain from people who are more productive at making them than I am. The market introduces competition between providers of similar services, but it also introduces inter-dependences between agents who exchange goods and services and are therefore dependent on each other’s productivity. I am therefore deterred from attacking other economic agents because, directly or indirectly, I need the goods that they produce.
Therefore, the free market does not directly discourage conflict, but it generally increases the costs of conflict between participants in the market.
