> For an example see, any centrally planned economy, ever.
We're pretty centrally planned here in Denmark, and it works well. :)
The key is to centrally plan infrastructure, but not everything. Electricity, healthcare, heating, oil/gas production, transport, education, and other basic infrastructure is mainly centrally planned, but plenty of the economy isn't. Things are also not always centrally operated (transit is usually bid out to private companies to operate), but infrastructure, energy, and other common resources are generally centrally planned. I think overall this produces results that are less chaotic and short-term-profit-maximizing, and more sensible.
Central planners can also use market mechanisms where appropriate, so planning and markets aren't exclusive. For example, the university system is 100% public and generally rationally planned, but there are also market mechanisms within it that reallocate funds based on various metrics, such as tying # of admissions slots in various fields to employment outcomes. I don't think it's perfect, but I strongly suspect a laissez-faire market would produce worse outcomes.
(You do, of course, also need a functioning civil society, so that the planning isn't abysmally stupid, but that is basically a prerequisite for democracy to work at all.)
The key is to have a country 2x the size of Massachusetts (one of the smallest states in the US) — Denmark is the 133rd largest country. Using a country of your size with a population only 2/3rds NYC to argue for global planned economies is incredibly disingenuous.
A more apt comparison would be China or the former USSR.
Rather than consider the USA as a single monolith and comparing to a single European nation like Denmark, compare to the equivalent monolith (the EU has 46% of the area, 158% of the population, and 103% GDP of the USA). Most EU countries have heavy central planning for all the things _delirium mentioned, probably all EU countries if you use the USA as a baseline.
Right, the EU is more applicable if you compare each country to a US state. US States typically do have central planning, like doling out these water rights.
Yes, I think generally medium-sized countries make more sense than giant ones, for many reasons. Though even the U.S. can do central planning when it wants to—the interstate highway system is an example.
As for China, we'll see. It's a huge country that I think would be chaotic under just about any system, but their current vaguely mercantalist, sort-of centrally planned quasi-capitalism is doing reasonably well, producing strong economic growth— with its attendant social problems. Would a fully market-oriented economy without the strong role of the state work better? I don't honestly know. I don't know how you'd even go about testing that kind of counterfactual.
We're pretty centrally planned here in Denmark, and it works well. :)
The key is to centrally plan infrastructure, but not everything. Electricity, healthcare, heating, oil/gas production, transport, education, and other basic infrastructure is mainly centrally planned, but plenty of the economy isn't. Things are also not always centrally operated (transit is usually bid out to private companies to operate), but infrastructure, energy, and other common resources are generally centrally planned. I think overall this produces results that are less chaotic and short-term-profit-maximizing, and more sensible.
Central planners can also use market mechanisms where appropriate, so planning and markets aren't exclusive. For example, the university system is 100% public and generally rationally planned, but there are also market mechanisms within it that reallocate funds based on various metrics, such as tying # of admissions slots in various fields to employment outcomes. I don't think it's perfect, but I strongly suspect a laissez-faire market would produce worse outcomes.
(You do, of course, also need a functioning civil society, so that the planning isn't abysmally stupid, but that is basically a prerequisite for democracy to work at all.)