Today, Wal-Mart runs a centralized economy bigger than Soviet consumer production in the 1970s.  It&#x27;s all run out of Bentonville, Arkansas. Wal-Mart is so centralized that the thermostats in the stores are controlled from Bentonville.  Purchasing is centralized in Bentonville. Store managers don&#x27;t determine what they sell.<p>The Soviet GOSPLAN planning cycle was just too slow. They had an annual planning cycle and a monthly information cycle. Wal-Mart has a weekly planning cycle and a daily information cycle.<p>China has a national 5-year plan. Here&#x27;s an analysis of the last 5-year plan (2011-2015) by a US consulting firm.[1]<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.kpmg.com&#x2F;CN&#x2F;en&#x2F;IssuesAndInsights&#x2F;ArticlesPublications&#x2F;Publicationseries&#x2F;5-years-plan&#x2F;Documents&#x2F;China-12th-Five-Year-Plan-Overview-201104.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.kpmg.com&#x2F;CN&#x2F;en&#x2F;IssuesAndInsights&#x2F;ArticlesPublicat...</a>