You're going to get downvoted for painting in broad strokes, but the spirit is correct: the societal goal of the free market was to use profit incentives to improve process efficiency in order to more effectively allocate scarce resources, but the failure mode we're experiencing is that the people pursuing profit have come to see the pursuit of profit as the point of capitalistic exercise, rather than as merely a carrot to entice entrepreneurial exercise for the good of society.

It's supposed to be the responsibility of society to keep incentives in check such that this doesn't happen (via regulation or otherwise), but once profit-seekers leverage their profits to seize the reins of power you've got a big problem on your hands.