by Francis Spufford
ISBN: 1555976042
Buy on Amazon
Found in 3 comments on Hacker News
The hallmark of central planning is that the more technology advances, the more your economy falls apart due to the impossibility of calculating every detail centrally. Good read on the subject: https://www.amazon.com/Red-Plenty-Francis-Spufford/dp/155597...
dmd · 2020-10-31 · Original thread
There is a fascinating alternate-history book about this: https://www.amazon.com/Red-Plenty-Francis-Spufford/dp/155597...
ableal · 2015-12-07 · Original thread
The Amazon page for Francis Spufford's Red Plenty, http://www.amazon.com/Red-Plenty-Francis-Spufford/dp/1555976... , currently features as 2nd comment one that starts by saying:

"I happened to grew up in Soviet Union and actually met some of the people mentioned in this book ..."

(and goes on to praise the authors accuracy.)