Suppose the United States adopted central planning for its economy, and you became the chief planner. Among the millions of decisions that you need to make for next year are how many compact discs to produce, what artists to record, and which consumers should receive the discs.

To make these decisions intelligently, what information would you need about the compact disc industry? What information would you need about each of the people in the United States? How well do you think you could do your job?