The Mystery of Bread Coordination

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Bob Greene: How is it that there's enough flour in the city for all the bread that everybody wants? He says without centralized control, something like rain or sunshine shows up. The baker just trying to make good bread, stock his shelves and get a decent price, he says. Greene: It doesn't mean everybody has enough money to get the fanciest kind of bread they want. But most cities in the world, they're spread every day for everybody.

Why is it that people in large cities like Paris or New York City people sleep peacefully, unworried about whether there will be enough bread or other necessities available for purchase the next morning? No one is in charge--no bread czar. No flour czar. And yet it seems to work remarkably well. Don Boudreaux of George Mason University and Michael Munger of Duke University join EconTalk host Russ Roberts to discuss emergent order and markets. The conversation includes a reading of Roberts's poem, "It's a Wonderful Loaf."