Question 4

• What solutions does the author propose to any problems mentioned? Who would implement those solutions? How probable is success?

"The anecdote is interesting because it betrays a total lack of understanding of how a market economy works. In America, there is no central authority that tells stores what items to stock, as there was in the Soviet Union. Stores sell the products that people want to buy, and, in turn, companies produce items that stores want to stock. The Soviet economy failed in large part because government bureaucrats directed everything, from the number of bars of soap produced by a factory in Irktusk to the number of university students studying electrical engineering in Moscow. In the end, the task proved overwhelming" (Wheelan 5)

In this chapter,  Wheelan discusses the pros and cons of a free market system and relates the United States to the Soviet Union, showing that the U.S. had no control over what items to stock, which caused the business owners to determine the three basic economic questions: What do we produce, how do we produce it and who gets it? Giving the central authority power over these companies proves failure, as Wheelan states in the quite above. By giving companies the power, the economy becomes stronger. Wheelan explains that the free market is not the greatest system, but is far better than others and is the best we have come up with at this point.