The best critique I heard about the central planning system is that it’s just that, planning.
You might be able to plan, but what about the advancements that nobody would plan for.
“Don’t build a faster horse”
Would a communist system ever advance beyond the planned scientific and enginnering goals? Is there someone thinking “what people need doesn’t exist?” and actually direct resources to it?
That’s the beauty of the the free market system - you can come up with a crazy idea and just do it. You often fail, but if you succeed, the risk you took is rewarded.
I can’t ever see a communist system coming up with an iPhone. They might copy an existing product, but that’s not innovation.
> I can’t ever see a communist system coming up with an iPhone.
Soviets invented a lot of things, in terms of aviation, computers, celestial navigation in intercontinental missiles. There was also an article, which I read recently but failed to find it now, about how they revolutionized mechanical watches, and came out with their own quartz movements, without copying anyone.
Oh lastly, they did the "iPhone of sea going vehicles", the erkanoplan, and VLIW computing which led us to Itanium at some point [0].
Soviet citizens were always at the mercy of central planners deciding if they got to enjoy any innovations (mostly aped from the west). Toasters only started production in 1967 and were mostly unobtanium for the next 25 years.
While the title is provocatively titled, "How the Soviets revolutionized wristwatches", it seems to be more of a play on words around the Soviet revolution. The article is about how they bought watchmaking equipment from the US, looted machinery from Germany after WWII, and copied swiss designs.
Soviet watches were workhorses, but not revolutionary at all.
>You might be able to plan, but what about the advancements that nobody would plan for
You obviously adjust the plan? Planning was never supposed to be some static system (and the "5 year plans" are not about market planning, they were more like "5 year initiatives to improve this or that aspect", e.g. "develop more tank making capacity", or "take a man to the moon").
>I can’t ever see a communist system coming up with an iPhone.
You might be able to plan, but what about the advancements that nobody would plan for.
“Don’t build a faster horse”
Would a communist system ever advance beyond the planned scientific and enginnering goals? Is there someone thinking “what people need doesn’t exist?” and actually direct resources to it?
That’s the beauty of the the free market system - you can come up with a crazy idea and just do it. You often fail, but if you succeed, the risk you took is rewarded.
I can’t ever see a communist system coming up with an iPhone. They might copy an existing product, but that’s not innovation.