The main reason centrally planned economies tend to fail is that they reward failure.

When countries like the USSR weren't satisfied with how a state enterprise was performing, they'd throw more money at it. So bureaucrats had a big incentive to underperform to get more money.

This happens sometimes in capitalist economies too, particularly in bloated multinational companies that have a lot of divisions.

But not on the same scale, because cash flow is linked to the success of the business, not the political desires of a central planner.

The policymakers in market economies need to understand this. Markets don't work because they're free, markets work because they reward success. But in a true free market, there are many structural obstacles to the rewarding of success that *do* need planning and laws to prevent.

For one thing, markets develop inequality over time, which causes political imbalance and blocks many people from even being given the resources to participate.

For another, there are predatory industries, like private equity, that kill successful enterprises.

And also, there is a distinctly American way in which our economy rewards failure: by letting a handful of people accumulate so much money that they have no consequence for the way they use it.

People like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump.

So really, the issue shouldn't be how centrally planned vs how free our economy is. The issue should be how well our system gives people opportunities and incentives.

We need enterprise to create growth. But we need systems in place that ensure everyone has access to basic necessities like housing and health care and education, so they have the opportunity to be full and empowered participants in enterprise.