Central planning

Central planning is an economic system in which a central authority directs production and allocates resources, rather than relying primarily on decentralized market decisions.

Material balance planning: A planning method that matches planned supplies of goods and materials with their expected uses. It shows how planners coordinate physical inputs and outputs across an economy.
Market economy: An economic system in which decentralized exchange and prices guide many production and allocation decisions. It contrasts with central planning by coordinating much activity through market transactions.
Socialist calculation debate: A debate over whether a socialist economy can allocate resources rationally without private markets and market prices. It made the informational and computational limits of central planning a central question.
Gosplan: The Soviet state agency responsible for preparing national economic plans. It translated central planning into production targets and resource schedules.
Collectivization in the Soviet Union: The forced consolidation of Soviet farms into collective and state farms, especially during the early 1930s. It connected agricultural planning to coercive changes in landholding and production.
Input-output model: A quantitative model that represents how industries buy from and supply goods to one another. Its interindustry tables can help estimate the inputs required to meet production targets.
Command economy: An economy in which a central government sets binding production and allocation decisions. This is the most directive form of central planning.
Karl Marx: A nineteenth-century German philosopher and political economist whose critique of capitalism shaped socialist movements. His critique inspired projects to replace private ownership and market coordination.
Five-Year Plans of the Soviet Union: A series of Soviet multi-year economic plans that set production priorities and output targets. They illustrate the scale and changing priorities of state-directed investment.
Shortage economy: An economy in which persistent excess demand makes goods difficult to obtain at official prices. Fixed prices and production mismatches can produce queues, rationing, and informal exchange.

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