Context: Anarcho-capitalism refers to a political philosophy which calls for the abolition of the state and for the provision of law and order to be controlled by private companies in a free market. It has recently gained popularity with Javier Milei, who calls himself an anarcho-capitalist, winning the race to become the President of Argentina last month.
Traditionally, free market advocates have supported the private provision of most goods and services, except police and courts which, it was believed, could only be provided by the state. But anarcho-capitalists believe that private companies competing in a free market can provide policing and legal services as well, often far better than the state when it comes to quality and price.
Just the way private companies today can offer better cars, telephone services, etc. at cheaper prices than the government, anarcho-capitalists argue, private companies can also provide a far better police and legal system.
It should be noted that in an anarcho-capitalist society, people would be paying private police and courts to offer them protection against crime and to adjudicate disputes with others.
Anarcho-capitalists argue that private companies, which depend on customer patronage for their survival, would effectively serve the needs of their customers.
This is in contrast to the current monopoly police and court system offered by the state that is funded using taxpayer money and characterised by delays and various inefficiencies.
Since citizens often need to pay taxes regardless of the quality of the policing and legal services offered by the state, the police and courts are not accountable to citizens.
Further, the quality of these public services is often quite low while their cost is significantly high. In an anarcho-capitalist society, on the other hand, customers who are unhappy with the services of a certain private court or police can stop paying them and switch to a competing court or police in the marketplace.
In other words, competition would ensure that the quality of police and legal services is high and prices low.