Optimizing things in the USSR (2016)
It&#x27;s funny how the vast majority of capitalist corporations consider capitalism as a sacrosanct principle, yet when you look at how they operate it&#x27;s basically Soviet-style central planning. The senior executive [nomenklatura] who, often, are treated More Equal Than Others, centrally plan who works on what and what resources they are allocated: a bureaucratic elite picking and choosing how the wealth of the company is redistributed and used among teams, as opposed to letting a market decide which projects live and die. As Ronald Coase pointed out, companies tend to be &quot;islands of central planning in a sea of market relationships.&quot;<p>Another parallel to the Soviets: Things like good-ol-boy networks and elite school alumni [membership in The Party] are largely what drives promotion within the higher ranks.