In simple terms, the argument—which, as will be clear, is derived directly from Austrian first principles—runs thus: a society must be able to allocate its resources efficiently by making economic calculations. To do this you have to know what the ‘primary factors’—the big, important resources that form the basis of all production, such as land, steel, and capital itself—are worth, and thus the best use to make of them. You derive this knowledge from prices assigned by the market. But if such primary factors are communally owned, they are not subject to a market, which means they do not end up
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