>Well, are you talking about with or without markets? Albert & Hahnel
>envision nonmarket arrangements with such computer links. The
>problem is that while it may provide information about current
>demand, it doesn't help with (a) ensuring accuracy, since people may
>accidentally overstate (typically) their needs--I am bad myself at
>guessing what I will want, (b) making long term plans about use of
>resources, (c) coordinating competing demands, or (d) choosing among
>production methids. So it would be useful whatever kind of system
>one has, but it's not a panacea. It doesn'tr forcea choice between
>market and nonmarket systems, or otherwisre settle the issue, and
>it's not a substitute for chooseing theright method or mix of
>economic coordination.
So what do you mean by "markets" in this passage? If a socialist enterprise makes stuff that consumers don't want, the goods will languish unsold. So would the "market" response be to cut prices until they do sell? To have done market research in the first place to see if the stuff would sell? For the enterprise itself to take a financial hit and maybe go under? For the executives to get fired? For the workers to get fired? I think you're uncritically accepting a lot of what Polanyi called the self-regulating market.
Doug