Prices are important not because money is considered paramount but because prices are a fast and effective conveyor of information through a vast society in which fragmented knowledge must be coordinated.
There's a very interesting book, Red Plenty, which tells the story of Soviet economic planning from the viewpoint of those who actually had to try and make it work...factory managers, planners, mathematicians, 'fixers'...part novel, part nonfiction.
Even the Soviets had to use prices, although they attempted to set them mathematically rather than via market competition.
There's a very interesting book, Red Plenty, which tells the story of Soviet economic planning from the viewpoint of those who actually had to try and make it work...factory managers, planners, mathematicians, 'fixers'...part novel, part nonfiction.
ReplyDeleteEven the Soviets had to use prices, although they attempted to set them mathematically rather than via market competition.
I reviewed the book here:
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/60918.html