This essay was written in 1947 and included as a postscript in the FEE-published edition of Mises’s book Socialism.

In Planned Chaos, Ludwig von Mises delivers a compelling critique of central economic planning and socialism, arguing that attempts to bypass the free market’s price mechanism lead not to order but to disorder and the collapse of prosperity. Mises illustrates how central planners lack the knowledge and information required to make efficient economic decisions, resulting in shortages, waste, and unintended consequences that undermine human welfare. He asserts that the calculation problem—a planner’s inability to discern the true value of resources without market signals—inevitably dooms planned economies, making the free market the only reliable path to economic coordination and societal flourishing.