The Local Knowledge Problem

Susanna and the other food bank directors start flying to chicago every few months, sitting down in a room and talking about their own version of the pickle problem. Thereis this phrase in economics, the local knowledge problem. And it's why centrally planned economies don't work very well,. No matter how smart the people in control are, they just don't have the knowledge to decide whether the people out in alaska should get pickles or oranges. The clear answer to the localknowledge problem is a market, a place where buyers and sellers come together.