Planning and the market during the next ten years in Latin America

The issue of the relationship between planning and the market has given rise to fruitless theoretical contention over the relative merits of central planning versus a laissez-faire market. At the practical level, this disagreement has manifested itself in sharp swings in policy, which at times have favoured State intervention while mistrusting private enterprise, and at other times have curtailed State action on the grounds that it is inherently ineffective and inappropriate. The author argues that one of the major lessons to be learned from the region’s postwar economic experiences is that a correct balance must be struck between the market and State action on the basis of an objective analysis of the strong and weak points of each.