Many countries in the former soviet block would very much contradict this take.
Entire economies were indeed planned and designed, and their shape was controlled and changed at will. Individuals and groups had control, and did do major changes, including but not limited to forced resettlement and labor camps.
You can of course argue that this ended almost universally in failures, but people did try, and the amount of control over economies is very much a spectrum.
Entire economies were indeed planned and designed, and their shape was controlled and changed at will. Individuals and groups had control, and did do major changes, including but not limited to forced resettlement and labor camps.
You can of course argue that this ended almost universally in failures, but people did try, and the amount of control over economies is very much a spectrum.