Charlie: They inderstood 1500 years ago that markets are imperfect
Maybe I was too brief – R’ Huna’s solution was specifically to combine charity with market power. The market was “imperfect” before his intervention, he enabled/”made the market” (same thing that midrash mentions about Yaakov): R’ Huna waited till the end of the market to buy leftovers. Farmers, who would know R’Huna would buy leftovers, would not hesitate to bring a little more perishables, thus lowering the prices to benefit poor people. Furthermore, he will _not_ distribute food he bought. If he were, the poor will not buy on the market and wait for his charity. Question was asked – how could he waste that food? answer – “throwing down the river” means people in other places (not connected to this market) will pick it up. Similar to USDA buying extra food from US farmers and donating overseas.
It shows that it is possible to pursue both goals – economic activity and charity. You may have to do trade-offs some time, but you need to keep both in mind.