Problems of planning economic policy

The word ‘planning’ is often used to denote the technical elaboration of the means needed for the implementation of a policy which is considered as already given. This use of the word, however, obscures an important element in the concept of planning: far from being given a priori, an economic policy needs itself to be planned or, shall we say, designed. Some of the principal problems connected with this ‘design’ will be the main subject of this article. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate first to remind the reader of a few concepts that must play a part in any such discussion. By an economic policy we mean the economic aspect of all government activity with the exception of activities undertaken by government agencies or government-owned enterprises in their capacity as consumers or producers. There may be some doubt as to where exactly to draw the borderline, but the borderline activities will not, in any case, be among the most important elements of policy. Defined positively then, acts of economic policy are aimed at influencing the economic process as it is carried out by others. Most countries have governments at different levels, e.g. local, county, state and federal – or whatever other official names are used to designate these governments; and we have the beginnings of policy-making at the international and supranational levels. Accordingly one may speak of the number of policy-makers involved in the policy of a certain country or group of