 When consumers are not paying for what they receive, their demand is effectively infinite. Inevitably, a central planner’s task becomes one of cost containment. Worse yet, a planner with no measure of cost has only a limited basis for deciding what to count as containing cost. If a given ton of steel can make one car or ten refrigerators, which way of using steel is economical? How does a planner decide whether to invest in upgrading water supplies or nuclear reactors? If all you know as a producer is that people are asking for infinitely more than you can give, then eventually you turn a deaf ear, deliver your quota, and pay no attention to whether demands from below (from customers) are being met. The only demands that have consequences are demands from above (that is, those which come to you through your supervisors).