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You Can’t Run an Economy With Spreadsheets

You Can’t Run an Economy With Spreadsheets
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Commentary

Argentine economic minister Axel Kicill of has become famous for his assertion that it is possible to centrally manage the economy now because we have spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel. This assertion comes from the mistaken view that the cost of production determines final prices, and it reveals a profound misunderstanding of the market process. This issue, however, is not new.

Nicolás Cachanosky
Nicolás Cachanosky
Author
Nicolás Cachanosky is associate professor of economics and director of the Center for Free Enterprise at The University of Texas at El Paso, senior fellow at the American Institute of Economic Research (AIER), and fellow of the UCEMA Friedman-Hayek Center for the Study of a Free Society. Cachanosky also serves as associate editor of the Southern Economic Journal. He is past president of the Association of Private Enterprise Education (APEE) and former director of The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS).
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