No, for most of the beginning of this country (until the 50s-60s) the economic regulations we had we reactions to bad actors in the market (e.g. anticompetitive actors, market manipulation, etc). After that, yes, the government saw it as a tool to create policy, but that doesn't change the fact that free markets encourage fraud and unfair tactics, especially if what is being done isn't technically illegal.
That kind of thinking is how it got like this in the first place.
No, for most of the beginning of this country (until the 50s-60s) the economic regulations we had we reactions to bad actors in the market (e.g. anticompetitive actors, market manipulation, etc). After that, yes, the government saw it as a tool to create policy, but that doesn't change the fact that free markets encourage fraud and unfair tactics, especially if what is being done isn't technically illegal.