Anarchy of production

Anarchy of production is the uncoordinated organization of production under capitalism, where independent firms make decisions without an overall social plan. Market competition and price changes coordinate these decisions indirectly and imperfectly.

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Commodity production: An economic system in which goods and services are produced primarily for exchange on markets. Independent producers make commodities for sale rather than follow a common production plan.
Karl Marx: A nineteenth-century philosopher and political economist who developed a critique of capitalism and historical materialism. Marx used the phrase to describe the lack of conscious coordination among capitalist producers.
Economic calculation problem: The debate over whether a planned economy can allocate resources without market prices for capital goods. It challenges the claim that replacing market coordination would solve production's disorder.
Invisible hand: A metaphor for unintended social coordination arising from individuals pursuing their own interests in markets. It describes market coordination positively, where Marxist analysis stresses its instability and lack of social direction.
Market price: The money price at which a good or service is bought and sold in a market. Price changes signal scarcity and demand, coordinating producers indirectly.
Friedrich Engels: A German philosopher and political theorist who collaborated with Karl Marx and wrote about industrial capitalism. Engels helped formulate the Marxist account of capitalist production and its crises.
Business cycle: Recurring fluctuations in economic activity, including expansions and contractions in output and employment. Uncoordinated investment is one proposed source of recurring booms and contractions.
Laissez-faire: An economic doctrine favoring limited government intervention in markets and private enterprise. It treats decentralized private decisions as a preferred organizing principle.
Competition (economics): Rivalry among firms or individuals seeking customers, resources, or economic advantage. Competition pressures independent producers to adjust costs, output, and investment.
The Communist Manifesto: A political pamphlet published by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848. Its account of recurrent commercial crises presents a classic expression of production's disorder.