Production, Planning and Prices

Firms do not exist because of the cost of using the price mechanism, but because they enable actions to be carried out concurrently in conformity with a particular design. This concurrent coordination, which production requires, is distinct from the evolutionary coordination, which is the unintended consequence of market transactions. The two processes are alternatives only to a limited extent. Evolutionary adjustment cannot bring about concurrent coordination, and irreducible uncertainty limits the scope of the planning which does.