The possibility to keep and manage an incredible quantity of data has resuscitated a recurring dream in history: the planned economy.
The planned economy allows a distribution of resources according to the needs, even if it is not clear who should decide what is necessary and what is not; it allows that all decisions be taken in a perfectly rational and objective way, even if it is not clear who should determine the alternatives to deal with: definitely, a perfect world.
Only a couple of minor details spoils this idyllic scenario: the first is the possibility that human beings will continue to behave in an irrational way, as they have always done starting with Adam and Eve up to our days; the second is the limited, indeed non-existent, capacity of human beings to predict the future.
Irrationality
and emotionality are part of human nature, either we like it or not, and cannot be eliminated; several times in
history, starting from the eighteenth century, variously defined ideologies have
tried to change human nature to create the “new man”: they have
managed to make millions of deaths but man has remained the same as before.
The market economy,
albeit with the need for adequate regulation, is the only one that can
guarantee the maximum possible welfare and, under appropriate conditions,
economic development.
