Thesis
- People want different things; markets translate that disagreement into prices so conflict stays civil rather than coerced.
- Planning replaces signals with authority, forcing one hierarchy of needs onto everyone else.
Core ideas to develop
- Value is subjective and local; no neutral list of priorities exists.
- Prices are compressed judgments; when they move, producers and consumers adjust in a live feedback loop.
- Break the signal (caps, quotas, opaque algorithms) and you get shortages where desire is high, surplus where it is low.
Systems view
- Signals -> behavior -> updated signals; speed and fidelity of the loop matter for legitimacy.
- Decree loops are slow and brittle; they escalate enforcement when reality refuses to match the plan.
Social stakes
- Who pays for mispricing: marginalized groups with the least buffer.
- Civil disagreement vs. coerced conformity; why plural signals protect autonomy.
Expansion notes
- Add a short case study (rent control or content moderation) to illustrate signal loss.
- Keep tone beginner-friendly; explain terms before using them.