I see your point, and it's a good question. A choice between an inherently impartial force that is the market, or an inherently fallible beast that is man, with absolute power corrupting absolutely.

The problem is that the incentives placed by the free-market system are purely dollar based, and there isn't always a dollar value for being a good person, which is why laissez-faire capitalism gave way to regulated capitalism in the first place; more profit can be made if there is no minimum wage, if you can exploit children, if there are no laws about where you put your waste or how tainted your food can be. I think good government has proven effective and useful toward the common good, and I believe that it is the interference of tycoons in government that allows for situations where there has to be a legal battle for the right to test all your meat.

A technologically advanced and wealthy society that can't manage itself well enough to trust it's own food supply, is stupid.