Milton Friedman's graduate course in Price Theory had one of his first assignments, a little essay by Hayek called the Youth of Knowledge in Society. I realized they were trying to run an economy by people who didn't have as much knowledge as the people whose decisions they were superseding. And this explained a very large percentage of the problems of the Soviet Union.
Thomas Sowell of Stanford University's Hoover Institution talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the ideas in his new book, Economic Facts and Fallacies. He discusses the misleading nature of measured income inequality, CEO pay, why nations grow or stay poor, the role of intellectuals and experts in designing public policy, and immigration.