The Transformation of American Capitalism: From Competitive Market Structures to Centralized Private Sector Planning

Do Americans live in a planned economy? Most of us would say no. John Munkirs. however, argues that the American economy has “centralized private sector planning.” Assessing 138 major industries and 5 major market areas, the author shows how firms in a given industry are technologically, financially, and administratively interdependent. He then demonstrates how industries are both structurally and functionally interdependent and how a series of economic planning instruments evolved over the years that both allow and may even necessitate regional, national, and international private sector planning.